Captured
by Jeffaplus
Summary: RJ & Hammy get caught by human scientists and sent to an animal testing lab. Rated for action violence, mild torture and some language. Please R&R!
1. Normal Day

The sun was setting over suburbia.

Red, orange and yellow streaks lined the sky and clouds as twilight reached a small area within the neighborhood that had not yet been developed. Behind the enormous hedge that acted as a fence between the two places, the critters that lived there were getting ready for a restful sleep after a long hard day of doing absolutely nothing.

RJ the raccoon was in a tree munching on some Spuddies that he had salvaged from a garbage can. Apparently the human had bought them, then tried them and found that he hadn't liked them. So he'd thrown away the nearly full can, leaving it for the Hedgies to salvage on one of their annual treks through the neighborhood. They didn't really need the food — Hammy had filled the log so well that they all had more than enough nuts to last through the year — but it was mostly the sense of adventure that continually brought them back through that hedge.

RJ figured he was tasting that adventure right now as he downed another couple of Spuddies. He'd offered to share with the rest of the gang, but apparently only he and Hammy liked them (for which RJ was immensely thankful). And talking of Hammy, the little squirrel was running around below him looking anxious. He looked up, saw RJ and scampered up the tree.

RJ offered him a chip and Hammy gulped it down immediately. Then, wiping his face delicately, he burst out, "Have you seen my cookies?"

RJ rolled his eyes. He was expecting this. "Hammy, how many times do we have to go through this? We have plenty of cookies. Don't tell me you've misplaced all of them."

"Well, I _have!_" Hammy said defensively, climbing up the tree further to look around. "I carry them with me everywhere. So they could be anywhere. And I don't know where anywhere happens to be. So I was wondering if you did —"

RJ sighed. "Look, Hammy, if you want to stop losing them you have to stop carting them everywhere. There is such a thing as loving something too much. If you store your cookies in a safe place then you won't keep having this problem."

Hammy zipped back down to where RJ was sitting and ate another chip. "Okay," he said finally, "I can do that. But I still have to find them —"

"Well," RJ interrupted as he reached into the can for more chips, "you lost the cookies today, right? So just retrace your steps. Go everywhere you went today and you should find them. Do you need me to go with you?"

"No no no no no," Hammy said confidently, "I can remember. In fact, I know just where to start because every morning I go to the lake to —"

"Great," RJ said hurriedly, cutting him off. "You'd better get started then, huh?"

"Uh-huh," Hammy said, and zipped down the tree toward the lake.

RJ watched him go and sighed again. Truth be told, he could have been a little bit more patient with the squirrel. Hammy could be annoying sometimes, it was true, but he was still a very good friend. In fact, all of the Hedgies were. RJ hadn't had many friends before, so he knew how lucky he was.

Smiling slightly, RJ put the lid back on the Spuddies can (it was still half full) and climbed down the tree. He tossed the can into the log and continued walking, hoping to find the rest of the Hedgies. Around this time they were sure to be gathered around the TV watching the latest human reality show. RJ had no idea what people saw in those, but they were apparently the big moneymakers, so the Hedgies watched a lot of them.

As RJ continued walking, a bush next to him began shaking. RJ stopped, and out of the bush popped Verne the turtle, sans shell. "Whoa!" RJ exclaimed, shielding his eyes. Verne was shocked too: stumbling backward, he grabbed some leaves and placed them strategically on his skin. Determinedly looking only at Verne's face, RJ lowered his fingers and said cheerfully, "Hey, Verne, what's up? What happened to —"

"My shell?" Verne growled, still clutching at the leaves. "The porcupine kids stole it again. They're taking turns wearing it and pretending they're warriors with shields. Their parents really shouldn't let them watch karate shows."

"I thought Stella was the one who usually set them straight," RJ said, puzzled. "She's done that before. Just waves her tail at them and they give it back."

"Well, she _would_," Verne groaned, "but I can't find her right now. She said something about ... what was it called ... prepping?"

"Ah," RJ nodded. "She's getting ready for her date tonight with Tiger. You know, washing up, fixing her fur, looking nice. She seems determined to impress him."

"He's pretty impressed with her already, if you ask me," Verne said, then suddenly started. "Hold on. Did you say washing up?"

"Uh, yeah," RJ replied. "She's down at the lake, isn't she?" A realization suddenly struck RJ. "Wait a minute. That's where —"

At that moment a yell came from somewhere in front of them. Stella's yell. A bird above them squawked angrily and took off, and next moment Hammy came zooming down the path, clutching something in his paws. RJ held out a paw to stop him, and Hammy crashed against it, fell to the ground, and popped right back up again, totally unaffected.

"You shouldn't have done that, Hammy," Verne scolded, still holding the leaves. "You intruded on Stella's privacy."

"Something you'd know all about, I'm sure," RJ muttered, looking at the still shell-less Verne.

"I know, I know," Hammy said, hanging his head. Suddenly he perked up again. "But I FOUND MY COOKIES! They were hidden in some weeds next to the lake!" Hammy grinned insanely and clutched the cookies tight against his chest, hugging them like they were his family.

"That's great, Hammy!" RJ said, putting a paw on his shoulder. "Now you're going to put them in a safe place, right? And stop dragging them everywhere?"

"Um. Yeah," Hammy said, thinking hard. "Hey! I know right where to put them! In the log!" And with that he zoomed off again.

"You don't say," Verne muttered, rolling his eyes. "It took him two weeks to figure that out?"

"Yup," RJ said. "Hey, Verne, listen — I'll see if I can get you your shell back. You just gotta know how to talk to the kids, you know?"

"Really?" Verne said, surprised. "Well, that's awfully kind of you, RJ. Thank you."

"No problem," RJ said, setting off again.

* * *

"Arrrgh!" one of the porcupine kids, Quillo, yelled. "I'm a crazy karate warrior! I fight you all!" He bounced toward his two siblings, brandishing a small stick. "I have a sword! Defend yourself!"

"Oh, yeah?" another, Spike, shouted back. "Well _I_ have a shield! Oooh, what now? Swords can't penetrate shields!" It was kind of hard to hear the kid, though, since Verne's shell was so much bigger than he was.

"Well see about that!" the third, Bucky, cried, also brandishing a stick. "Charge!"

"Hey!" came a voice. The kids started and turned, and out from behind a tree bounded RJ, wearing a little paper hat and also carrying a stick. "What's this I hear about a swordfight? Cause if there is one, I want to be a part of it!"

"Yeah!" the kids all shouted, jumping up and down as well.

RJ held his "sword" high. "En garde!"

The two porcupines with swords charged him gleefully. Standing carefully, RJ turned sideways just so ... and Bucky crashed into his tail and fell backward, while Quillo's "sword" clashed against his and caused the kid to also lose his balance. In less than a second, RJ had disarmed his opponents, leaving him free to "fight" Spike, who had the shell. Though he couldn't see, he waddled forward eagerly, also carrying a stick.

But RJ was the one who had the advantage now: Carrying all three of the sticks, he ran forward and lunged for Spike. The two of them dueled for awhile, but then the kid lost his stick as well. RJ now had all four.

"I have all the swords!" RJ shouted, running and standing on a rock. "I am victorious!"

"Yeah!" the kids shouted, cheering even though they had lost. It was fun playing with RJ, even when they didn't win.

"That makes me the winner," RJ said matter-of-factly, looking down at the kids. "And you guys know what the winner gets to do, don't you?"

"Uh ..." the kids thought a moment, but couldn't decide what the answer was. Then Quillo asked, tentatively, "Does the winner get to wear the shield?"

"Precisely!" RJ said, jumping off the rock and striding forward. "The winner gets to wear the shield. It's only fair. Now come on, guys, give it up."

"Awwww ..." the kids sighed, but they didn't resist when RJ lifted the shell off of Spike and put it on himself. RJ walked in front of them like he was a model showing off a new outfit. "Well, kids?" he said. "How's it look?"

"Awesome!" Bucky shouted, and the other two grinned in spite of themselves.

"Thanks, guys," RJ said, and started to head off, but Spike grabbed him and said, "Play again, RJ? Come on, please?"

"No, no, I don't think so, you guys," RJ said dramatically. "I'm very tired; all this fighting can wear a guy out. Besides, this way I get to retire undefeated, what else?"

"Oh, OK," the kids sighed, and RJ disappeared through some leaves. "Hey," he heard Quillo say, "let's go play in that race car we nabbed the other day!"

"Yeah!" all of them shouted. RJ heard them all scamper off and chuckled. It was always ... _interesting_ playing with the kids.


	2. Cookie Heist

"There you go, Verne. Don't say I never do anything for you."

RJ removed the shell from his body and tossed it to Verne in one smooth motion. The turtle grabbed it and put it on quickly, sighing with relief once he was back inside. "Thanks, RJ."

"No problem." RJ grinned as he watched the turtle stride away, now at home inside his shell. Verne was headed to wish Stella good luck. RJ would have gone too, except he didn't really know what advice he had to offer. He hadn't really had much luck when it came to dating. So instead RJ turned around and headed back for the log.

He yawned. It had been a long day, and the sky was now black and dotted with stars. RJ was going to have a few more Spuddies and then call it a night. He wasn't alone: Walking by a clearing, he saw Ozzie and Heather already fast asleep, both of them hanging from a separate tree branch by their tails and snoring gently.

Soon RJ saw the log. He headed for it and was just about to step inside it when —

He heard whimpering from inside. Whoever was doing it sounded lost, like they didn't know which way to turn.

RJ sighed. "Oh, lord, Hammy, what now?" he said, stepping into the dark log. The squirrel sat in front of the mountain of nuts and junk food, and was nibbling his paws nervously.

"I - I - I - I'm out of cookies," Hammy said, shivering. "I - I - I'm out of cookies. I don't know what to do. I NEED MY COOKIES!" he burst out suddenly, jumping up. Scampering wildly around the log, he would have barreled into RJ had the raccoon not reached out and grabbed Hammy by both shoulders, forcing him to stand still.

"Wait. Wait," RJ said, trying to restrain the squirrel. "You said you're out of cookies? I just saw you with like, six of them! You can't tell me that's all you had!"

"I ate them all," Hammy gulped, fighting to stay calm. "I - I - I couldn't c-c-control myself. I ate them all. I need more. I never feel right unless I have a stash of them away somewhere —"

"If it's not nuts, it's cookies," RJ muttered to himself, then gently released Hammy, who trembled in place. "Hammy, I know you need those cookies, but it's late. We'll get some first thing in the morning, OK?"

"No!" Hammy gulped, "I need them now! I can't sleep unless I have some! I'll stay up all night worrying about them, thinking about them, praying for them, imagining their rich, luscious taste, those chocolate chips dripping with sweet melty goodness, that cookie dough smelling of heaven and sugar —"

"ALL RIGHT!" RJ burst out, before Hammy could get him worked up too. Then, more calmly, RJ said, "If we go for some cookies now, will you promise to make them last for at least a week?"

"Yes! Yes, RJ, oh yes! I can do that!" Hammy said, scampering to the raccoon and hugging him fiercely. Fighting to breathe, RJ gasped, "Okay. Let's head out then."

* * *

Soon RJ and Hammy found themselves on the other side of the hedge and in a suburban yard. His trusty blue bag slung firmly over his shoulder, RJ looked around and took in the surroundings.

This backyard was rather small. RJ and Hammy were hidden in a large planter filled to the brim with flowers, and in front of them was a swimming pool. On the other three sides were concrete. There was a swingset in the right corner, and to the left was a row of grass and small trees. Next to the trees was the back door, with a catflap in it.

"Okay," RJ whispered to Hammy, who was bobbing gently on the balls of his feet, "you know the drill. We've done this many times before, right?"

"Right, right, right," Hammy said nervously. "But what if the cat catches us?"

"She's an old friend of Tiger's," RJ said calmly, "and we've never run into her before. Why should we now? She's usually out prowling at night."

"Right. Okay. Deep breaths," Hammy gulped.

"Ready?" RJ whispered. Hammy nodded fiercely. "Then let's go."

Quietly the pair slipped through the plants and jumped out, landing on the concrete next to the swimming pool. They looked around. All clear. Hammy zipped to a wall and stood against it, inching along toward the cat flap. Soon he reached it and held it open. RJ dashed through, and Hammy followed. They were inside the house.

In front of them was a couch and TV. RJ paused for a minute to admire the irony of the TV being fitted inside a large, wall-to-wall bookshelf, then continued on. The kitchen was right next to them; they headed for that.

Soon they stood in front of a huge, gleaming white refrigerator, complete with ice dispenser. "Inside that," RJ whispered to Hammy, "they have the cookies. Supposedly the woman who lives here makes the best chocolate chip cookies in the neighborhood. We'll just have to see for ourselves, won't we?"

Hammy nodded vigorously in agreement.

"Good." With that, RJ put his bag on the floor, turned around and hoisted Hammy upwards. The squirrel jumped from RJ's shoulders onto a counter behind them. Hammy ran back over the counter for a running start, then turned around and dashed toward the refrigerator. He jumped ... and landed on the handle of the fridge. He pulled and tugged, but to no avail: The door stayed firmly shut.

RJ rolled his eyes. Hammy was right above him, so RJ did the only logical thing to do: He jumped up and grabbed Hammy's tail. The squirrel's eyes widened but he stayed silent.

"This may hurt a little, okay, Hammy?" RJ whispered. The squirrel nodded feebly, and RJ tugged on his tail. He pulled ... and the refrigerator door opened. Loudly.

Hammy dropped to the floor and cringed, but no humans seemed to have heard. He and RJ sighed in relief and looked up at the awesome sight before them.

The refrigerator glowed like a light from heaven, illuminating the fruits, the vegetables, the drinks within. And the cookies. Especially the cookies. Sitting on a shelf at the top, they were in a large ziplock bag on a plate.

Hammy bounced excitedly. "There they are, there they are!" he whispered gleefully. RJ shushed him, then proceeded to climb the fridge slowly, shivering. Little by little he climbed up cold shelf after cold shelf, pausing every now and again to admire something, but then reminding himself he was only there for the cookies and continuing. Soon he reached the top shelf.

The plate was somewhat bigger than he was; grunting, RJ pulled at it until it was at the edge, and then walked behind it. "Ready, Hammy?" he whispered down.

"Ready," came the whispered reply, and RJ began pushing the plate. It was heavy; straining, he shoved at it repeatedly until he figured out that Hammy was saying, "Wait! RJ, I'm not ready! Something's coming this way and —"

Too late. The cookies dropped off the shelf and tumbled downward. Hammy had just enough time to make a wild snatch. He grabbed the bag of cookies, but the plate that they were on kept going and hit the floor, shattering with a horrible clatter.

"Dang!" RJ gasped, quickly climbing down the shelves. A human would be here any minute! Finally he reached the bottom. Hammy made to shut the door, but RJ whispered, "No! No time! Come on!" Now he could hear the footsteps too. RJ grabbed his bag and he and Hammy dived for the cat flap, but —

A large, furry gray cat blocked their way. She looked down at the squirrel and raccoon, and grinned fiendishly.

"You're finished."


	3. Snowstar

"If you could please, please, please keep quiet until your humans go away —" RJ whispered frantically to the cat, but she batted a paw at him and he fell silent. "Why should I?" the cat said, but RJ noticed she was whispering too... "I skipped going out tonight because I have a bone to settle with you," the cat hissed murderously, and RJ and Hammy gulped. "Why should I just let you go?"

"Well, we'll owe you a really, really, really big favor," Hammy whimpered, bouncing nervously again. "A really, really huge one —"

"Silence!" the cat hissed, and Hammy complied. "I'll keep quiet, but that's only because I'd rather deal with you myself, and not leave it up to the humans. _Do you understand_?"

She glared murderously at them.

"Yes," both RJ and Hammy squeaked nervously.

"Then get behind the couch," the cat said, "and don't move."

RJ and Hammy obeyed, and the cat headed toward the footsteps. RJ heard a switch being snapped on and suddenly the kitchen and TV room were flooded with light.

"Snowy?" a voice said. Probably a male teenager, RJ thought. Sent by his parents to investigate the noise because he was the only one fully awake. "Did you do this?"

RJ heard the cat meow innocently, and couldn't help rolling his eyes.

"Oh, no," the teenager groaned, and RJ knew he'd seen the cracked plate. "Great. Thanks a lot, Snowy." The cat meowed innocently again, and RJ heard the boy go for a broom. Soon the plate was swept up and in the garbage, and the boy shut the door to the fridge.

Then he opened it again. "Wait a minute. I saw the plate; it fell out. But where are the cookies?"

Hammy gasped and RJ clamped a paw over his mouth. The squirrel was still clutching the ziplock bag like his life depended on it. RJ felt Hammy trembling next to him; there was no way he was giving the cookies back to this boy...

"Snowy, did you take the cookies?" the boy asked, but almost as a half-thought. "No, what would you want with them? But then where did they go?"

RJ heard silence for a minute, and figured the boy was looking around the kitchen. "Hmm," he said, puzzled, but then — "Oh, never mind. Mom probably put them somewhere else. She has that party to go to tomorrow night, maybe she's taking them there..."

RJ heard the boy sigh again. "It's too late for this. Good night, Snowy." RJ heard the boy stop to pet the cat, then head back to his room. Soon his footsteps faded away, and RJ let out a breath, not realizing he'd been holding it. It had ended the same way it always did, he figured; the humans were too lazy and uncaring to really worry about it. Of course, he would have been too if he was up late on a night like this — which, he reminded himself, he _was_ —

"They're gone," a voice hissed, and RJ jumped. He had forgotten they still needed to deal with the cat. She came around the sofa now, glaring at them. "I knew he wouldn't worry about it. Never does. That's what teenagers do."

RJ smiled in spite of himself. "Snowy? That's your name?"

"It's _Snowstar_, for your information," the cat growled, "but they're too lazy to call me that. The young daughter named me. Oh, the indignity," she groaned.

Hammy gulped. "So, um, are you going to let us go? We'll owe you that favor —"

"Shut up," the cat said calmly, "I'm not finished with you." Her face suddenly turned ugly. "You stole him from me!" she spat, her back fur rising up menacingly.

RJ and Hammy glanced at each other, uncomprehending. "What?"

"You — stole — him," the cat hissed, pacing in front of them. "He was mine. I loved him; he loved me. And then _you lot_ came along and he dumped me — for a SKUNK!" She stopped pacing and threw her head back, almost howling. "HE — DUMPED — ME — FOR — A — SKUNK!"

Understanding suddenly struck RJ. "You mean Tiger?" He and Hammy looked at each other again. This was not going to be easy to get out of. "Uh, that wasn't entirely our fault —"

"Shut up. Of course it was. You seduced him, so that you could get the collar and your food. Your precious _food_," she sneered, looking at the bag Hammy was still clutching firmly. "Apparently you lot aren't easily satisfied —"

"Look, we had no idea he'd take to her so quickly!" RJ said, starting to panic. He was inching slowly away from the couch toward the door, in front of the pacing, growling cat. "He liked her immediately, and when she revealed she was a skunk by blasting the house he only seemed to like her more!"

"Yeah," Hammy added, "How were we supposed to know he'd actually fall in love with her?"

RJ shot him a glare. "You're not helping," he whispered, beckoning Hammy to follow him.

"Oh. Right. Sorry." Hammy very unsubtly zipped over to RJ, who was almost to the door. "Look," RJ said, "I'm sorry if we caused a breakup or two, okay? But we _really_ have to go..."

"You're not going anywhere," Snowy hissed softly.

"Saw that comin'," Hammy said matter-of-factly.

With a howl, the cat leaped forward. RJ just had time to shove Hammy out of the way before a mass of writhing gray fur was upon him. Snowy grabbed RJ's shoulders, pinning him to the floor, and hissed in satisfaction. RJ, paralyzed, saw a huge, gaping mouth and a rather large amount of teeth that reeked faintly of tuna.

Thinking quickly, RJ reached up and jabbed the cat's nose sharply with his paw. Snowy howled and reared her head back, but her grip on RJ remained firm. RJ wrestled with the cat's huge paws, struggling to get his bag out from under him. Finally he succeeded, and just as Snowy lowered her head again he pulled his trusty boomerang out of the bag. Quickly taking aim, he flung it straight at the cat's head.

Snowy ducked.

She watched the boomerang fly over her head and grinned sinisterly. "You missed," she laughed, and reached down to finish RJ off.

"Hammy," RJ yelled to the squirrel, who was biting the cat's tail hopelessly, "duck!"

Hammy obeyed, and the boomerang did what all boomerangs did and came back. It sailed over Hammy's head and straight into Snowy's, conking her skull hard — and knocking her for a loop. Dizzily she reared her head again, trying to get the stars out of her eyes — and in that instant her grip on RJ weakened for a millisecond. RJ seized the opportunity and scooted out from under her paws. He checked that his bag was still there, stuffed the boomerang back in it, grabbed Hammy's hand — and they ran for their lives.

The raccoon and the squirrel bolted through the cat flap and ran across the backyard. They reached the planters and stopped for a breather, panting heavily. Well, RJ did — Hammy remained unfazed. "I knew you were going to do that," he said simply to RJ as he clutched the bag of cookies.

"Did — you — now?" RJ gasped.

"Well, no," Hammy admitted, "but I knew that that was going to happen. When you threw the boomerang? They all do that."

"Are you calling me predictable?" RJ asked, as he slowly gained his breath back.

"I — I — I — I —" Hammy faltered.

"Chill, Hammy," RJ said, placing a paw on the squirrel's shoulder, "it was a joke. Now, let's get out of here."

"Um — how?" Hammy asked feebly.

"The same way we came in," RJ said, "right through — the — fence." RJ turned around and blanched. Sitting in front of the hole that they usually went through was Snowy. Her tail was wagging, and she was growling fiercely.

"That's _it_!" she yelled, and RJ and Hammy began to move backward. "I'm through messing around! See you later, fools!"

"Did she get that line from the SpongeBob movie?" Hammy whispered to RJ nervously.

"RUN!" the raccoon yelled in reply, and Hammy bolted. In less than a second he had run across the grass and scaled one of the trees in the yard. RJ followed suit, Snowy hot on his tail. The raccoon scrabbled up the tree trunk, but so did the cat: Flexing her claws, she leaped ... and was suddenly right below RJ and Hammy, who stood on a branch, trying to keep their balance.

Without stopping to think, RJ grabbed Hammy and leaped to another branch, this one farther away from Snowy. But the cat was nimble and followed them. RJ and Hammy leaped from branch to branch and the cat was always hot on their tail. Finally they came to rest on a branch that jutted out from the tree, back towards the house. RJ and Hammy stood at the end, wobbling unsteadily, and Snowy crouched right in front of them, preparing once again to pounce.

RJ tried to see if he could jump to another branch, but he and Hammy were out too far. Could he land in the grass? No, he was above the concrete. Could he jump for another tree? No, they were too far out. The only thing to do would be to jump for the house itself ... would they be able to make it?

There was no time to see. RJ looked back at the house, then looked at the cat ... and Snowy pounced.

"Hammy! JUMP!"

The squirrel and the raccoon sailed through the air once more ... and this time the cat did not follow them. As RJ grabbed onto the house's rain gutter, Hammy's hand in his other paw, he heard a loud splash and wild howling and hissing. Snowy had overdone it on the jump and soared straight into the swimming pool. RJ saw a light click on and heard the same boy's voice say, "What's going on out there?" before he pulled himself up and into the gutter, hoisting Hammy after him.

The pair paused for a moment, breathing heavily. "Wow," Hammy said, "that was close." He hugged the bag of cookies that he still clutched in his paws. "At least I got my cookies."

"Never — again," RJ gasped to himself as he struggled to his feet, checking himself (and his blue bag) for injuries. "Never — again — that was the worst —" He shook his head and sighed. "Well, come on, Hammy. Let's get back to the log."


	4. Stroll Through Suburbia

RJ & Hammy walked the house's rain gutter, stopping occasionally to kick aside dead leaves and twigs. The gutter carried them over the fence and to the front yard before stopping. RJ and Hammy slid down the end like a slide, and they emerged on the ground in the driveway. The pair paused a moment to take a long drink from a hose ("Cheating death can make a guy thirsty," RJ commented), and then continued on their way.

All was quiet in suburbia. Crickets chirped, leaves rustled gently in the wind and RJ heard the distant honks and rumble of cars on a freeway some miles away. He and Hammy walked on the sidewalk; they didn't have to worry about being spotted since it was so late. The few humans that saw them (if any) were likely to be too tired (or drunk) to care about a squirrel and a raccoon in their neighborhood.

Yet RJ got this eerie sense he was being followed. He tried to attribute it to being tired and needing sleep, yet he still couldn't shake the feeling that someone (something?) was tailing them. Apparently Hammy sensed it too: he walked a little closer to RJ, trembling, and was constantly checking over his shoulder. RJ scratched Hammy's ears, and the little squirrel seemed reassured. But who was going to reassure the reassurer? RJ wondered.

A twig behind them snapped.

The pair wheeled around, but there was nothing there. They looked up and down the sidewalk, up and down the lawns and driveways of the street — everything looked ordinary. But was it?

"Just the wind, Hammy," RJ whispered, as they turned around and continued walking. "Just the wind." He put a friendly paw on the nervous squirrel's shoulder, and felt him shaking badly. "Nothing to be scared of," RJ muttered, trying to convince himself. "Nothing."

They walked on. Since they hadn't been able to take the shortcut through the fence, it was going to take them considerably longer to get back to the log. RJ knew that at the moment he would have liked nothing more than to curl up in the log and sleep. They would have to get there first, though, so he and Hammy pressed forward.

A dog barked in the distance. Was that the wind, making that distant hissing noise? And (Hammy moved a little closer to RJ) why were the leaves rustling so loudly? They almost sounded like someone (something? RJ thought again) breathing. Was RJ just too aware of his surroundings or was something else going on?

He nearly had a heart attack when he heard voices. They were coming from a front porch just ahead of them. The light was turned on, but there were no humans outside. RJ looked closer and saw two figures sitting on the welcome mat, talking and laughing.

RJ sighed with relief. He knew those voices: It was Tiger and Stella, out on their date. And Stella was doing something RJ had never seen before ... she was _giggling_. Tiger was making her laugh like she never had before. RJ grinned: they were a cute couple. Perfect for each other.

"Vell, dinner vos vunderful," Tiger was saying, after he and Stella finished laughing, "and I 'ave to say, it is am_az_ing to be talking to you, Stella. You alvays 'ave something interesting to share."

"Oh, stop," Stella said, and RJ knew she'd be blushing if she could. "Well, what about you? I had a lot of fun with you too. Somehow you always know what to say to me." She laughed again. "I can say confidently that I have never met anybody quite like you, Tiger."

"Just doing my job, miss," Tiger said, bowing and tipping an invisible hat, and he and Stella grinned at each other.

"We'd better go, Hammy," RJ whispered, tapping the squirrel (who was gazing at the pair with rapt attention). "Don't want Stella to think we're spying on her, do we?"

"What?" Hammy said, then looked back at RJ. "Oh. Uh. No, I guess not," he said, and started to walk forward again. Still, the pair couldn't help hear what Tiger had to say next ...

"Stella," he was saying, as he took her paws in his, "I vant you to know zis und know that I really und truly mean it. No vun has ever made me feel this vay. Not ever before."

Stella gazed, enraptured, at Tiger and started to lean it, but —

"AH-HA!" came an all too familiar voice, and RJ and Hammy nearly jumped out of their fur. Out of the shadows behind them came a very drenched and very angry gray cat. RJ and Hammy wheeled around in shock, but they weren't Snowy's target this time: She leapt over them, sending water everywhere, and ran to the porch where Tiger and Stella sat, their eyes widening in shock and, for Tiger, dread.

"He used that exact same line on me," Snowy snorted, trying to maintain as much dignity as possible as she dripped water everywhere. "You, Tiger," she said, throwing a fierce look at him, "have been ignoring me. You have been avoiding me and acting like the all-around scaredy-cat that you are. You dumped me," she screamed as she jerked her head at Stella, "and for _this_?"

"And what exactly is that supposed to mean?" Stella growled, folding her arms. RJ saw her tail twitch and knew precisely what she wanted to do. Stella apparently had better self-restrain than that, however; she barely flinched when Snowy turned to her and sneered, "You're a _skunk_. He's a _cat_. And your children will be sterile, if you can produce them at all."

"I do not care!" Tiger suddenly shouted, looking Snowy right in the eye. "I love her. I vant to be vith her und nothing you can do or say vill stop me!"

"Could you possibly spout any more clichés?" Snowy said scornfully, prowling in front of him. "If you weren't so idiotic you'd realize that the whole inter-species thing is just not natural, and that you should have stayed with _me!_ But hey, if you want to have a wife that will stink up the house for the rest of your pointless life, then why should I stop you?"

"Okay, jealous ex-girlfriend, that does it!" Stella yelled. "Tiger's made his choice and now I've made mine. So unless _you_ want to stink as well, you'd better clear off!"

"You wouldn't _dare_," Snowy sneered, gazing at Stella angrily.

"Oh, wouldn't I?" Stella turned around and waved her tail. "One, two —"

RJ was suddenly knocked to the ground. Snowy had leapt from the porch and passed over his head, her tail knocking him in the face and causing him to lose his balance. The cat ran for it, her tail swishing behind her angrily. Suddenly she turned around and screamed at RJ and Hammy. "And someday I'll get you two!" she shouted at them, and then vanished.

"_She's_ the one who needs to lay off the clichés," RJ muttered, picking himself up and dusting himself off. "Yes, Hammy, I'm fine," he said to the squirrel, who had been hanging around him anxiously.

"RJ?" Stella was approaching the pair, Tiger following behind her cautiously. "What are you guys doing here?"

"Oh!" RJ said, as he grabbed his bag and put it back on. "It's well — gee, it's kind of a long story..."

"You wouldn't happen to have been _spying_ on us, would you?" Stella asked carefully, folding her arms again.

"See? What did I tell you?" RJ whispered to Hammy, who gulped. "No, Stella," RJ explained, "it's just that Hammy here ran out of cookies. We went to get more and that cat —" he jerked his thumb back behind him — "ran into us, then followed us. Mission accomplished, though."

Hammy hugged his back of cookies tight and grinned sheepishly at Stella and Tiger.

"Uh-huh," Stella said. She didn't sound convinced. "Well, anyway, you guys should head back to the log. In fact, maybe I should join you —"

"No, Stella, vait!" Tiger shouted suddenly, and Stella turned back to him. "I vant to spend more time vith you tonight," he murmured, holding her paws again.

Stella looked into his eyes. "Really?" she asked. "Even after all —" she sighed uncomfortably and averted her eyes — "all that that — woman — said about me?"

"Stella, look at me," Tiger said gently. Slowly Stella raised her head, and found Tiger gazing at her with affection. "She can say all she vants. She vill not change my mind." He smiled serenely at her. "I vant to be vith you."

Stella looked at him for a moment, and found a grin of her own spreading across her face. "Well, I suppose another drink or two won't hurt..."

She and Tiger walked paw in paw back toward the porch, and slipped through the cat flap on the front door.

"Interesting," RJ said, looking after them.

"What?" Hammy asked.

"Oh. Um —" RJ really didn't want to get into what he thought about Stella and Tiger right now, so instead he said: " — his collar. He doesn't need that fancy one anymore, remember? The neighbors down the street adopted him after Gladys went to jail."

"Oh. Right." Hammy sighed and stood up. "Can we please go home now?"

"Sure," RJ smiled and stood up too. "After you."

Hammy took two steps forward — and out of nowhere, a net closed around him.

RJ gasped. "Hey —" Hammy started to say, then he was suddenly lifted into the air. "Hey. Hey, wait a minute!" Hammy struggled to get out of the net but to no avail. "RJ! RJ, help!"

"I got you, Hammy!" RJ lunged for the net, but it was raised too high, even when he jumped for it. Desperately RJ reached for his bag for something to help — a fishing line, anything — and the bag wasn't there. It had vanished.

RJ wheeled around. Standing in the street in front of them was a huge, towering, gleaming white van, much bigger than the Verminator's had been. It had the word LABORATORY stamped across the back in big black letters, and had scary-looking equipment stapled to the top and sides. Standing in front of the van was a strange human — clothed in a bizarre outfit that included a large white coat that stretched down to his knees, he was holding the net that held Hammy prisoner and grinning sinisterly.

"Let him _go!_" RJ made for the human, but before he had even gotten close a net closed around him as well. RJ spun on his heel and saw another human, clothed like the first, holding the net firmly around the raccoon. Slung over the human's shoulder was RJ's bag.

RJ struggled, but the net only closed around him further as he too was lifted into the air toward the van. "Get off! Let him go! _Let us go!_ **_Hammy_**!"

"RJ!" The little squirrel was being put into the back of the van. There were cages in there — rusty, dangerous-looking cages — and they had ropes. The human shoved Hammy into one of the cages and stretched the ropes tight. Soon Hammy's hands, feet and mouth were bound like he was some sort of hostage.

RJ's eyes widened in horror. "No!_ NO! Let him go! **Get off! **STELLA! TIGER! **SOMEONE GET US OUT OF HERE**!_"

"_RJ! Hammy!_" he heard again, and saw Stella and Tiger racing out of the house toward them. RJ saw them screeching to a halt in horror as they beheld the sight of the van. Then they ran toward it — and RJ lost sight of them as he too was forced into the back of the van. The human's hands shoved RJ's net into one of the cages. Without taking RJ out of the net, the human stretched the ropes forward. Struggling madly, RJ tried to resist, but the human's hands were firm. RJ's feet, paws and mouth were bound so tightly that he could barely move.

The human withdrew his face from the cage and joined the other one, the both of them standing in front of the van's doors and beholding the sight of the madly struggling animals.

"Got a good crop this time around," RJ heard one of them say, and they both laughed. It was a chilling, evil laugh that sent shivers down RJ's spine. Something about these humans was very, very wrong.

"Yup," agreed the other. "Better head back, then."

The human reached out and grabbed the van's double doors. He began to pull them shut, and stopped — pausing one last time to look in at RJ & Hammy. RJ didn't move as he looked into the human's eyes. They were cold eyes, haunting eyes ... bottomless and dark. The human gazed at him for a moment, then smiled evilly.

"Sweet dreams."

Then the doors banged shut, and RJ's world was plunged into darkness.


	5. Headed for Conflict

Running furiously, Stella burst through the hedge and bolted for the log, Tiger hot on her heels. "Guys!" she shouted, "Y'all need to get up _right now!_"

"RJ und Hammy are in need of our help!" Tiger added, as he and Stella came to a halt at the log's entrance.

"Guys?" Stella growled impatiently as she looked in, seeing Verne and the porcupine family fast asleep in front of the huge stack of food. "_Wake up!_" she shouted, with no effect.

Sighing and rolling her eyes, Stella turned around. Examining her paws idly, she counted off, twitching her tail: "One ... two..."

"What do you _want_, Stella?" came Verne's grumbled voice, and Stella turned again to see the turtle standing up sleepily, the porcupines following his lead. "We're trying to rest here. Not all of us are nocturnal, you know."

"What's going on?" came another voice, and Stella saw Ozzie and Heather come over to join the group. "All of the shouting woke us up — Dad fell right out of the tree —"

"Hey, wait a minute," Verne said suddenly. "Where's Hammy? And RJ?"

"They're _trapped_ in a huge white van that's heading _that_ way as we speak!" Stella burst out, as she pointed to the highway. It was some distance away, and the Hedgies could just make out various headlights passing each other. "One of those pairs of lights belongs to a huge truck labeled LABORATORY," Stella said steadily, "and RJ and Hammy were caught by two humans that shoved them inside it. We couldn't get there in time."

"Caught?" Ozzie said suddenly, and Stella rolled her eyes: She could sense another "drama attack" coming on. Sure enough, Ozzie suddenly struck a pose like he was in a spotlight, and lamented: "Trapped. Ensnared. _Caged_ ... like a couple of animals." He paused. "Ironic."

He clenched a fist and brought it down on his other palm firmly. "We _must_ help them!" he shouted dramatically. "RJ has done the same for us. He and Hammy are our family. We would be fools to leave them to the mercy of whatever those barbarians are planning."

"I agree," Tiger volunteered. "RJ was ze one responsible for me meeting Stella." He wrapped a paw around her shoulder affectionately. "I owe him my life for zat."

"Oh, stop," Stella said again, nonetheless pleased.

"And Hammy was the one who taught us how to run really fast!" one of the porcupine kids chirped, as he and his siblings started to demonstrate.

"We certainly can't leave him behind after that," Penny said affectionately as she watched her offspring, Lou's arm around her. "We're in."

"Well, Verne?" Stella said, and the entire group turned to face him. "You're coming too, right?"

"I — uh — well —" Verne shuffled uncomfortably. "Well, I'm not going to pretend I'm not a little nervous!" he burst out suddenly, then recovered. "RJ and Hammy are our family," he said softly, "like Ozzie said." The turtle suddenly looked up, and there was a determined gleam in his eyes that Stella had never seen before. "And we're going to get them back."

"Right on!" cheered the porcupine kids, and Stella grinned. "Let's get to work."

The animals shuffled off to quickly prepare for the trip. Penny and Lou started lecturing their kids on the do's and don'ts of group traveling, Verne was trying to not look greener than he already was, Ozzie and Heather were discussing the situation in low voices, and Stella and Tiger walked together, paw in paw. But there was someone else with them, too. Someone different.

The Hedgies didn't know it, but they were being watched. And listened to. Another animal had followed Stella and Tiger through the hedge and was now crouched in the shadows, having heard everything. The figure watched Stella and Tiger stroll off together and let out a low growl. But her thoughts soon turned to other things.

"Captured?" Snowy wondered aloud. "In a lab van?" The cat shifted uneasily. "Well," she said to herself, a little too firmly, "no more than they deserve, right?" She looked after Stella and Tiger, who were still in their embrace. "Right," she growled, albeit unconvincingly. "They're the ones responsible for him and that _skunk_. Fair's fair."

The cat remained in place, though, as various overlapping thoughts drifted around her head. But one thought, in particular, kept coming back to her: _What if it **isn't** what they deserve?_

* * *

RJ wrestled furiously with the ropes around his paws in the blinding blackness. He had no idea what he was doing. If only he had his bag! It had nail clippers _and_ a flashlight in it. _How_ could he and Hammy have been so intent on Stella and Tiger that they failed to notice the truck pull up behind them and the humans preparing to trap them?

RJ felt a steady vibration and knew the van was starting to move forward. It was his only clue that he was traveling — the van's engine was super-quiet. Probably to help the humans sneak up on animals — like they had just done to him and Hammy, RJ reminded himself. Disgusted, he struggled still more furiously against the ropes ensnaring his body, but to no avail.

RJ could barely breathe. The gag around his mouth was tight and suffocating, and could not be chewed through no matter how he tried. RJ knew Hammy must be having similar luck, but he couldn't call out to the squirrel. He couldn't even _see_ him. The back of the van was pitch dark and had no windows. RJ tried closing his eyes and found that it didn't make a bit of difference when he opened them again. This only made him more frustrated, and he wrestled hopelessly against the firm ropes.

Finally RJ was exhausted, and stopped. His chest heaved as he tried to take in more air than the gag around his mouth would let in. Breathing heavily, RJ let his mind drift to the other Hedgies. All of them would probably be asleep right now. _Sleep_. Just thinking about it made RJ long for the log. He was so very tired. But how could he sleep in a place like this?

RJ suddenly heard something in the dark, and all thoughts of sleep were temporarily forgotten. _Hammy_. The little squirrel was whimpering somewhere below him. RJ felt a stab of pity in his heart. He wanted to talk to Hammy, to reassure him, to tell him everything would be okay — but he couldn't. He couldn't speak at all. The gag around his mouth prevented him from making even the smallest noise.

RJ felt his anger boiling again. What did these humans want with him and Hammy? What reasons could they possibly have for capturing them? Where were they taking them? What was going to happen to them?

Panting heavily, RJ willed himself to calm down. He couldn't get out of here without a clear head. First item of business was to get free. Then, go for Hammy. Then they would get the heck out of there and back to the log.

But how far had they gone? RJ wondered. Was the log even within walking distance anymore? It was getting farther away by the second. _Where_ were they going? Would the other Hedgies know what had happened to RJ and Hammy? Had Stella and Tiger gone back to the log to tell the others, or had something else happened to them? _What_ was going on?

Through the haze of questions, RJ heard whimpering again, and in that instant he knew he had to take action, no matter what. RJ began struggling again, not with the ropes this time, but with the cage. He rocked it back and forth, causing the cage below him to tremble. That was another thing: Were he and Hammy the only ones in here, or had other animals met a fate similar to theirs? RJ knew most of the cages were empty from the glimpse he had caught before he was thrown in. But were _all_ of them devoid of any animals?

Well, RJ decided, if there _were_ more animals in here, they were going to go free, same as him and Hammy. The thought strengthened his resolve and he rocked the cage harder. Both his cage and the one below him shook and quivered. RJ felt his cage move back and forth, back and forth, moving further and further by the second — and at last he felt himself falling. The trip was short: RJ quickly crashed to the floor, and his cage sprang open. The raccoon cringed, but the humans were talking up front and appeared not to have heard.

Well, it was a start. RJ tried to stand up, but the ropes around his feet remained firm as ever. That was another problem: the ropes were also attached to the cage, so to get out, he was going to have to untie himself. But how?

RJ still couldn't see what he was doing, but he had an idea: Silently he wrestled with his cage again, this time moving it backwards. Little by little the cage shuffled backward along the van's cold, hard floor. Finally RJ felt his cage clash into another one — the one that had been below him.

Quickly RJ attempted to raise his hands. The ropes around them were firm, but still moved slightly as RJ pushed against them. At last he snagged one of them on the other cage's bars. Moving his hands just so, RJ pushed the rope into the bar and felt it tear. He pulled his paw forward, and the ropes came undone.

Clenching his fist in victory, RJ moved speedily. Twisting awkwardly again, he untied his other paw. Immediately his hands shot up to his face and pulled the gag down. Gasping, RJ inhaled air rapidly. It felt like the breath of life. He untied the gag from around his neck, then bent down and, after a few tense moments, undid the ropes around his feet as well.

RJ grinned as he threw the net off of himself. He was free! But there was no time for celebration. Quickly he ran out of his cage and turned around. He threw his cage aside and cast a look around the van. There were cages all over the inside of it, stacked high along the edges. It was hard for RJ to see, but he could tell all the same that all of them were empty. Then RJ's eyes fell on the cage that had been below him — and he could just make out a dark shape inside. A small and furry shape. Hammy! RJ ran forward and felt along the cage's bars. Soon he found a latch and undid it. The cage door swung open, and RJ climbed inside.

The squirrel looked utterly spent. RJ felt another stab of pity as he bent down to untie the frail-looking, helpless Hammy. RJ went for the gag around his mouth first: It took several moments, but at last the ropes were undone and Hammy took in a huge gasp of air, just as RJ had.

Hammy looked at the raccoon. "RJ!" he gasped.

RJ smiled weakly. "Hey, Hamsquad."

"My fault — it's all my fault—" Hammy whispered as RJ went for the ropes around his hands. "All of it! It's my fault —"

"Don't even _say_ that," RJ whispered back, now undoing the ropes around Hammy's feet. "It'll be okay, Hammy. Don't worry."

"I — if we — if we hadn't gone for the _cookies_," Hammy panted as he struggled to his feet, RJ having finished untying him, "we — we wouldn't be — be _trapped_ in here —"

"Hammy, listen to me," RJ said firmly as he pulled the net off the squirrel, who was trembling slightly. "It is _not your fault_," the raccoon whispered, placing his paws on Hammy's shoulders. "If it's anybody's, it's the humans'. I don't know what they want with us, but I don't want to be around to find out. Do you?"

"Uh-uh," Hammy squeaked, shaking his head fiercely.

"Good," RJ said, smiling. "Now, let's get out of here."

RJ turned around and began to head for the van's double doors. Hammy started to follow, then spun around again, zoomed back into his cage and came out again, catching up to RJ. In his hands he clutched the bag of cookies.

"They didn't take them from me," Hammy whispered with relief, hugging the bag again. Most of the cookies were, amazingly, intact. Hammy breathed in their scent, and at last looked reassured.

RJ rolled his eyes, but didn't stop walking. They reached the double doors. RJ raised his paws to push against them —

And before he had ever touched them, they banged open. A harsh, white light shone into the van and RJ was momentarily blinded as he shielded his eyes. When he lowered his arms, he saw two tall, sinister figures standing before him, laughing triumphantly.

The humans had beat them again.

"Why, look," one of them said, bending down toward the scared raccoon and squirrel, "I do believe our captives were intent on escaping."

"Is that so?" the other said, sounding amused. "Wouldn't have been the first time. At least their companion behaved."

RJ and Hammy shared terrified looks. Companion? What companion? They had been alone in the van. Hadn't they? All of the cages had been empty! Hadn't they?

"We knew you two would try to escape and we _let you_," the human sneered as he looked down at the two animals again, "because we knew we'd get here long before you had finished. And we were right, weren't we?" He and his partner laughed again. "Always the animals try to escape and never do they succeed. Wouldn't want to break tradition, would we?"

His partner snapped on a pair of gloves. "Of course not." He grinned evilly at RJ and Hammy. "So you're coming with us."

RJ and Hammy had unconsciously backed away from the humans, and now stood at the edge of the stacks of cages, trembling in terror. One of the humans reached in an area beyond the doors, and RJ and Hammy couldn't see what he was doing — but then he came back within their view, and was holding a long, sinister-looking silver pole. At the end the human held, there was a handle. He reached in with the pole, and RJ saw silver pincers at its other end, grabbing for the raccoon and the squirrel. RJ made to run, but looking around him in terror, he saw that there was nowhere to run _to_ ... and then the pincers closed around his arms and waist. He was trapped.

Struggling madly again, RJ was lifted into the air once more, into the harsh white light. He just had time to catch a glimpse of the van, and saw that the other human was lifting Hammy up in a similar grip. "_Leave him alone!_" RJ shouted after him, but of course the humans paid no attention.

The last thing RJ saw before the humans took him away was the inside of the back of the van. All of the cages were empty, just as before — but looking closer, RJ thought he could make out another, larger cage, hidden in the shadows in the back. Something big was inside it— it was struggling, just as RJ had — and then another set of double doors, these ones large and gray, banged shut in front of the van, and RJ was carried away.

Poles slung over their shoulders, the humans carried RJ and Hammy down a large, gleaming hallway that was cloaked unflatteringly in shades of gray and white. They passed tables with wheels, fire extinguishers, doors marked with words like LD50 TEST and DERMAL TOXICITY TRIAL. The floors were tiled and the ceilings had long, bright, blinding lights.

RJ wrestled with the metal claws around his waist madly, but they were even tighter than the ropes had been. He scraped his feet against them uselessly, trying desperately to loosen them — but the human carrying him looked over his shoulder at RJ, sneered nastily, and squeezed the handle of the pole. RJ felt the claws around him tighten even further and ceased struggling.

Down and down the hall they went, and RJ heard some of what was going on behind the sinisterly marked doors. There were sounds of hissing, squirting, and spraying. RJ didn't know what was going on, and didn't care to find out, but he had no choice: Soon the humans came to a door marked ANIMAL WAITING ROOM and carried RJ and Hammy inside.

RJ was forced into another cage, this one having thicker, stronger bars, and the human promptly slammed the door shut and clicked a huge combination lock onto it. "That should keep you safe and sound," the man laughed. "However..." he seemed to be thinking for a minute, and then a sinister grin spread across his face. "Since you gave us so much trouble," RJ heard the man say as he strode over to a table laden with glasses and containers, "we may as well make sure you stay out of action until we need you..."

RJ backed slowly against the walls of the cage. The human was coming back, and in his hand he held a large, gleaming, sharp — needle.

RJ's eyes widened in horror. His back was pressed flat against the side of the cage, but the human simply reached in and poked the needle through the bars. RJ tried to evade it, darting from one end of the cage to the next, but was soon trapped in a corner. He cringed, shutting his eyes — and he felt the needle enter his shoulder.

Fiery pain erupted where the pin had struck. RJ's entire arm was burning, the sensation spreading rapidly to the rest of his body. RJ opened his mouth to scream and was suddenly struck by an intense dizziness, his head wobbling as he struggled to remain standing. He made to lift his hands to steady himself, and he suddenly felt like they weighed a thousand pounds ... circling woozily around the cage, RJ barely heard the human chuckling softly as he strode away.

Through the pain and hurt and dizziness, RJ was barely aware that the world around him was fading. He hadn't noticed that he had fallen onto his side, his head lowering as his vision swam ... black spots danced all around his eyes, and were widening by the second ... his hearing seemed to be fading too...

RJ surrendered. He fell unconscious. A painful breath escaped his mouth as he gave in to the spreading, inky blackness.


	6. Back at the Hedge

"Right then," Verne said as he smacked a large map (which had been stolen from the garbage of a suburban family that enjoyed traveling) onto the ground, "_here's_ where we are." He pointed to a large blue square marked **7**, and as the other critters consulted the key they saw that "**7** El Rancho Camelot Estates".

"Now," Verne said, "which way did you say the van went, Stella?"

"When we saw it," Stella muttered, running a finger down the map, "it was headed for —" she pointed to a thin stripe. "— _this_ road."

Slowly Verne's finger traced the road. "19 — Noe's Burritos — no ... 17 — Melissa's Coffee House — no... is this it?"

He pointed to a large gray square marked **13**, and looked at the key. "The Guyson-Travis Animal Testing Laboratory."

Stella whistled. "Yup — that's definitely it."

"The van vos very clearly marked LABORATORY," Tiger confirmed.

"Well, hey," said Heather, studying the map, "that thing's only, like, two inches away from us! We'll get there in no time!"

"I don't think so, Heather," said Verne seriously, and pointed to the key again. Near the top was a scale graph. "1 inch 2.5 miles," Verne read aloud.

"Five miles!" Lou gasped, and looker over at Penny with concern. "Honey, what will that do to the kids?"

"Oh, don't worry, Dad," Quillo said confidently, "we'll be fine. By the way, how far is five miles?"

"Far enough that it can't be _walked_," Verne said suddenly, and all of the Hedgies stared at him. "Well, think about it!" he said. "We'll never get there in time to save RJ and Hammy ... even if we manage not to keel over from exhaustion during the trip."

"Five miles," Ozzie suddenly gasped, and Heather covered her eyes. "Five grueling, intense, _draining_ miles!" Slowly, dramatically, he laid down, his arm slung over his head in despair. "We will _never_ make it," he groaned. "We shall surely _perish ..._ like a starving rat in a desert."

"Well, what are we gonna _do_ about it?" Stella asked, smoothly cutting through Ozzie's monologuing. "Is there any way we could get there faster?"

"I don't know — all I know is we need to follow _this_ road," said Verne as he looked at the map again, "the one that goes down _that_ way ..." He pointed to the highway in the distance, which was by now a familiar sight to the Hedgies. "And that's the shortest route. Five miles."

"Hey," Bucky exclaimed suddenly, "we could hitchhike!"

Suddenly the group fell silent, and everybody stared at the little porcupine. The only sound was crickets chirping in the background. Bucky looked around and gulped. "What? ... It was just a suggestion..."

"You've been playing _Auto Homicide 3_ again, haven't you, dear?" Penny asked her child.

"Well, yeah, that's where I got the idea..." Bucky shuffled uncomfortably.

"Guys, this is _serious_," Verne said impatiently. "Who knows what's happening to RJ and Hammy right now? We need to get to them _right away!_"

"We could drive!" Spike suddenly shouted.

"Kids," Verne said impatiently, turning to the porcupines, "you _really_ need to lay off the video games —"

"No, no, it's not a video game!" Spike said eagerly, bouncing up and down. "Follow us, we'll show you!"

"Yeah!" shouted Quillo, "come on!"

The three siblings disappeared through the trees. Verne rolled his eyes, then sighed to the other Hedgies, "We might as well follow them."

Slowly the animals shuffled along, following the shouts and eager squeals of the kids and the rustling noises they made amongst the leaves. All of them were carrying something, having packed some food and supplies for the trip. This, however, tended to make the journey difficult: many of their bags caught on the foilage and caused some delays. Verne glowered; his patience was wearing thin.

Finally they came to the clearing they knew so well. Verne felt a little jolt as he looked at RJ's empty chair, and the little seat next to it that would have been occupied by Hammy. It only reminded Verne of his friends even more...

"Look!" came a voice, and Verne turned — and next moment instinctively rolled into his shell, cowering. Something had just blasted over him — something much bigger than he was, and about a million times faster. Verne felt something round scrape against his shell and he groaned. Another mark. If only RJ was around to scrape it off with his electric toothbrush...

Popping back out of his shell angrily, Verne yelled, "You kids almost _killed_ me! Are you _nuts_? Penny, Lou, you two _really_ should — should — oh my."

Standing in front of the group of Hedgies was a large, remote-controlled red car — a convertible, complete with adjustable top and three rows of miniature plastic seats. Bucky was holding the controls to it, and Quillo and Spike were sitting inside on the driver's seat, grinning.

"Look at this ..." Stella said, amazed, as she slid into the passenger seat.

"Why," said Tiger, as he hopped into the back, "it is just our size!"

"RJ helped us nab this toy car from some rich family, the other day," Quillo said. "It's really cool! And it goes really, really fast, wanna see?"

"**_No_** — no, that's all right, kids..." Verne muttered as he shuffled forward. "Can everyone _fit_ in there, though?"

"Oh, yeah — and _with_ room to spare," said Heather, as she and Ozzie slid into the second row. Penny and Lou were already there, making sure the kids didn't drive off again. "See?"

"Road trip!" Ozzie suddenly shouted eagerly, "Let us _taste_ the _wild_ adventures of the highway!"

"_Dad_ ..." Heather groaned, covering her eyes again.

"Would you kids mind hopping in the back?" Verne said as he reached the driver's-side door, and Quillo and Spike leaped over the seat to join their parents. Verne slid in and shut the door, resting his hands on the plastic steering wheel. When he tried to turn it, though, it didn't move.

"Yo, dude, _that's_ just for decoration," Bucky said, having followed Verne to the driver's-side door. "The _real_ steering wheel is right here." He gestured to the remote control in his hands and grinned. "Ready when you are." He hopped in to join his family in the second row.

Verne rolled his eyes again. Turning around, he looked over the group of animals, all sitting in their seats eagerly. "Is everyone ready to go?" he asked, and they all nodded.

"Wait!" came Quillo's voice, and everybody turned to him. "Seat belts!"

"Ohhhh ..." everyone said, suddenly remembering. There were little straps reaching across the three rows of seats. The animals grabbed them now and slid under them, securing themselves firmly to the seats.

"And put your bags under the row in front of you," Verne added, and the animals followed his lead. "Okay," came Penny's voice, "_now_ we're ready!"

"How come I am all alone back here?" Tiger grumbled to himself. "This is not fair."

"You won't be," came a voice — a voice that was all too familiar to Stella and Tiger.

A shadowy figure shuffled slowly forward into the moonlight, and as Tiger turned around he saw that it was Snowy. The gray cat was looking considerably drained: Her tail drooped sadly and her fur was still slightly wet from the swimming pool.

Tiger started to back away cautiously; Stella, on the other hand, immediately leaped for Snowy, landing directly in front of her. "What are _you_ doing here?" she said furiously.

"Look," Snowy said, and her tail twitched in annoyance, "I didn't come here for another fight." She looked down, and muttered under her breath. "Though I'm sure I'd _enjoy_ one." She looked back up at the rest of the Hedgies, who were all watching her carefully. "I want to help you guys."

"Help us?" Stella snorted. "Why the heck would _you_ want to help us? An hour ago you wanted RJ and Hammy dead. Well, jealous ex-girlfriend, you just may have gotten your wish!"

"And that's why I want to help," Snowy cut in, and Stella stopped, her mouth slightly open. Snowy sighed and lowered her head. "I saw your friends being sent to that — that animal lab. And — I mean, even though I hated them, I didn't exactly want them _dead_ ... or tortured..."

"Tortured?" Lou suddenly said in alarm. "What do you mean?"

"You don't know what goes on in those things, do you?" Snowy said, looking up. "I heard you guys talking. The 'Guyson-Travis Animal Testing Laboratory' is basically a jail for animals." She looked each Hedgie straight in the eye. "Your friends," she said steadily, "are going to be _experimented_ on."

All of the Hedgies gasped and started talking at once. Ozzie's voice rose above the others': "_Experimented on_?" he howled. "This is an _outrage!_ A _scandal!_ These humans — these _barbarians_ — should be sent to jail — their _own_ jail — for the rest of their rotten lives!"

"That's the interesting part," Snowy said idly. "It's not even illegal."

"_What?_" Verne cried. "It's _legal?_"

"I swear, the more I know about humans, the less I like them," Penny shuddered, and Lou held her close.

"You won't like these humans at all," Snowy said to her, "they're merciless. They kill animals just to study cosmetics."

Stella folded her arms. "You know a lot about this place," she said.

Snowy shrugged. "I've been around." Her tone, however, immediately grew serious. "But that's why I should go. My humans are animal-lovers, and so they've read about these places and I've picked up on it. I could really help you guys." Her gaze on Stella was intent and unwavering. "If you'd let me."

"So," Stella said, her arms behind her back as she paced in front of Snowy, "let me get this straight. You went on wishing RJ and Hammy so much harm, so that when they _did_ get harmed, _you_ immediately felt guilty. And now you want to work off that guilt by helping us rescue them?" she finished increduously.

"Basically, yes," Snowy said, without breaking her gaze.

All was silent for a moment or two. Then Tiger raised a paw from the backseat. "That is good enough for me!" he volunteered. "Come, Snowy — 'hop in', as they say."

"I agree," Lou said, "she knows a lot. She could really help us."

"Yeah," Heather added. "And really, the closer it gets us to RJ and Hammy..."

"You're sure?" Verne asked from the front seat. "I mean, I agree that she could be a great help to us, but —" The turtle sighed and looked back at Snowy. "I guess it's up to Stella to decide."

The Hedgies fell silent again, all of them staring at Stella. She looked around at them, then back at Snowy, then sighed. "This doesn't mean we have to be friends or anything, does it?"

"No," Snowy said immediately, "definitely not."

"Then I guess I'm good." Stella stepped aside and gestured toward the car. "I suppose you can sit with Tiger — as long as you don't try to rekindle old flames or anything like that," she added seriously.

"Don't worry," Snowy said, as she leaped into the backseat, "I'm sure he won't let me."

"You are absolutely right," Tiger sniffed, as Snowy put on her seat belt. "My loyalty is to Stella, und I am a cat who keeps his vord —"

"Don't make me reach back there!" Verne shouted as he turned around again. "Okay, let's go."

"Tiger," Stella called back, as she hopped into the passenger seat again, "you know I'd rather be back there with you too!" She suddenly grinned and swiped the remote control from Bucky's hands. "But I've got a car to drive."

"Yeah!" shouted the three porcupine kids. "Let's go!"

Stella looked at Verne, her paw hovering over the controls. "You ready, Mr. Head Honcho?" she said playfully.

Verne gulped. "As ready as I ever will be."

"Then _hold on!_" Verne just had time to grab the steering wheel before the car lurched forward, throwing all of the animals back against their seats. The little car blasted through the foilage, Stella turning sharply to avoid tree trunks. Soon the hedge came into view, but instead of slowing, Stella pressed down on the controls, and the car sped up, bursting through the hedge in a shower of leaves and branches. The car screeched onto the road and turned sharply, the animals just managing to hang on. "Hang on, RJ and Hammy — we're on our way!" Stella shouted.

They were headed for the highway.


	7. Things Get Worse

"Larry, get 19-JG over to the testing room. We need to test that new spray out and make sure it's safe for the market."

"Right you are, boss. Shall I take 42-DA as well?"

"Might as well. There's a gel that needs testing also, we can let 42-DA handle that."

"Certainly, boss. That's the two new arrivals, over to the testing room. But what happened to the third?"

"They sent him to a different part of the lab. Organ and bone modification, as I understand it."

"Ah. Okay, boss. Two animals coming right up. I'll get Bill to help bring them over."

RJ's head swam. He could barely hear the dialogue going on around him. His eyes opened, but it didn't do much good: All he could see was a blur of colors and light. He tried to raise his head and was struck with another bout of dizziness, so he lay back down again.

Something was coming his way. A large shape was approaching him. RJ didn't much care right now, but he couldn't help but wondering what was going on all the same. Who was 19-JG? Who was 42-DA? What was organ modification?

"Okay, little fellow. Come on, over to the testing room." The large blur that RJ had seen had opened his cage. A pair of strong hands reached in and grabbed him. RJ tried to resist, but his body remained limp. The dizziness still maintained its hold on him.

The human's hands were friendlier than the ones that had captured him. They held him gently, the human putting RJ's paws on his shoulder and holding the raccoon's waist. RJ felt the human bobbing under him and knew they were moving. RJ saw a door behind them close, and suddenly they were back in the hallway, the human striding down it in great, large steps.

RJ wondered hazily where he was going. They had said something about an animal testing room? RJ didn't like the sound of that. But truth be told, he was more concerned about Hammy. Where was he? Had anything happened to him? And what about the rest of the Hedgies? Had they heard anything? And if so, what were they doing?

And what about that mysterious shadow in the van? It had looked like it had needed help. Why hadn't RJ seen it before? What was it?

"Here we are, little guy." The human had stopped in front of another door. Blearily RJ blinked and turned around, his eyes coming to rest on the sign on the door's window.

ANIMAL TESTING ROOM

_No screaming allowed during lunch_

Church & Dwight

Clairol

Clorox

Colgate

Johnson & Johnson

L'Oréal U.S.A.

Mead

Proctor & Gamble

S.C. Johnson

Unilever

_Assorted cosmetics_

RJ's eyes widened slightly. His mind somewhat clearer, he wondered what the sign meant. But before he could speculate too much, the human had pushed the door open and gone through it.

The inside of the room was, like the rest of the building, cold and gray. It was a large room: there were humans all around it, bustling and working. Lampshades hung from the ceiling, the bulbs inside of them a bright, intense white. There were more tables with beakers and other equipment on them, but there were also empty tables with straps and harnesses and, in a few cases, shackles. There were needles everywhere, but there were also strange, clear masks, thin plastic tubes with peculiar liquids in them, more tables with wheels, and scary-looking tools like scissors and scalpels.

RJ was the only animal in the room so far: Walking forward, the human handed him over to another, a different human that was dressed in what looked like a long green gown that went down to his knees. He had a strange hat and mask on as well, and RJ saw his eyes narrow as he looked down at the raccoon.

The other human withdrew his hands and began to walk away. RJ could have sworn he had heard him whisper, "Sorry, little fella," before he'd left, but he wasn't sure. Right now he was more concerned with what was happening: The new human carried him roughly over to one of the tables with shackles on it. RJ's eyes widened and he resisted, but the human simply forced him down and fastened shackles around his legs. RJ's arms were positioned so that his elbow was bent, his paws next to his ears, and his wrists were fastened too.

He couldn't move.

The human stopped and looked down, satisfied, then strode away. RJ couldn't see what he was doing, but he heard the humans talking, and then a sound of liquid being poured and sprayed. His mind was much clearer by now, but he still had no idea what was going on, or what he should do.

RJ had never felt so lost in his life. He had no idea where he was. He didn't know what this place was, or what it was going to do to him. He didn't know where any of his friends were. And he didn't know what had happened to them. It hardly seemed possible that just a few hours ago he had been sitting in a tree munching on some Spuddies and discussing cookies with Hammy. Would the two of them ever get home again? Would they ever get to see the log again?

Another human, dressed in the same strange outfit, approached him. He had a small, furry orange bundle in his arms. The human bent down to the table next to RJ, and the raccoon heard the same shackles being fastened. Then the human straightened up again, satisfied, and disappeared.

"Hammy?" RJ whispered, having recognized the orange bundle. "Is that you, buddy? You feeling alright?"

"F-f-f-fine," came the nervous reply. Hammy was still as jittery as ever. RJ was thankful for that, as it meant the humans hadn't gotten to him. "RJ, what — what're they gonna do?"

"I — I don't know," RJ replied, faltering. "Hammy, don't — don't worry," he said, trying to reassure himself as much as the squirrel. "We'll be fine."

Hammy fell silent, and RJ felt a twang of guilt. How could he be telling Hammy that they would be fine? As far as he was concerned, he was the least fine he had ever been in his life. What was going to happen to them?

RJ heard the voices of two humans rising, and strained his ears to listen, to gain any clue what the scientists would do. "— should be simple," one of them was saying. "Nothing to worry about."

"How does the procedure go again?" another voice, this one sounding younger, asked tentatively.

"It's easy, my young intern," came the chuckled reply. "All you have to do is hold their eyes open and squirt in the spray and gel. They're shackled down so they can't resist. Once that's done, you clip their eyelids open and lock them in stocks to keep them from clawing their eyeballs out. After a couple of hours we study the effects of the spray and gel on their eyes, and determine whether the new products are safe for customers."

RJ gasped. He could — not — _believe_ what he was hearing. _This_ was what the humans were planning? What kind of monsters were these? What kind of sick, twisted being would torture animals like this just to study a cosmetic product?

"All right," came the voice of the intern, "I'll go get the hairspray. You wanted to use the raccoon first, is that right?"

"Correct," was the reply, and RJ suddenly recognized the voice: it was one of the humans that had captured him. There was no mistaking that cold, icy tone. Or the laugh that came immediately afterward. "He's given us a lot of trouble. Time to return the favor."

RJ struggled madly with the shackles around his wrists and legs. The humans were going to _torture_ him — they were going to squirt gel in Hammy's eyes — this couldn't be happening — couldn't — couldn't — couldn't —

RJ's chest heaved as he wrestled with the shackles, but they were still firm around his wrists. He heard footsteps. Approaching him. The humans were coming back. The scientist that had caught him came into view, that evil grin of his back on his face. In his hand he held a large spray pump, and it was aimed straight at RJ. Behind the scientist, a young-looking man was pouring a bottle marked SPARE SPRAY HAIRSPRAY into the pump, looking anxious.

"RJ," came Hammy's whisper. "RJ! What's going on?"

RJ couldn't move. He was paralyzed. The scientist checked the sinister-looking spray gun in his hands, determined it was in fine working order, and strode forward quickly. RJ gasped as the human bent down — and his fingers went for the raccoon's eyes. RJ shut them instinctively, but the human's rough fingers simply pried them open again. His vision blurring, RJ saw the scientist shove the spray gun into the young man's hands. "Do it," he said.

The young man gripped the spray pump nervously, but when he hoisted it up and pointed it at RJ, his hand was quite steady.

Sick with fear, RJ prepared to be blinded.

Then the pump went flying.

Something had knocked the spray pump out of the man's hands. RJ couldn't see what it was, but he heard a low growl and the young man fell, disappearing from view. RJ heard him hit the floor hard, and guessed that he wouldn't be getting up anytime soon.

"What?" roared the scientist, releasing his grip on RJ's eyes and turning around. "What's —" Suddenly the scientist was knocked down too. RJ heard wrestling underneath the table, then a smack and a crunch. Another human, down for the count.

Panting, RJ raised his head to try and see what was going on. What he saw shocked him: the entire room was full of unconscious humans. The door leading back to the hallway was locked, and equipment was strewn everywhere. Tables were overturned, chemicals and toxins were leaking all over the floor, and the humans were covered with scratches and bites. The light bulbs hanging from the ceiling were swinging, casting crazy shadows all over the room, making things look more chaotic than they already were.

RJ heard something below him. Whoever had done this was underneath the table right now, having finished off with the scientist. He heard soft footsteps, the click of claws on the tiled floor — and suddenly something reared up in front of him, placing its front paws on RJ's table.

RJ gasped. Standing in front of him was a large, fully-grown wolf.

* * *

Verne sat in the car's driver's seat, his legs propped up on the steering wheel and the map open in front of him, as Stella drove at a quiet, steady pace. Verne was following their route on the map, not taking any chances. They'd just passed number 11, "Sue's Scarves", which meant that they were about halfway there. The little car was winding through the grass just alongside the highway, following the gray road that seemed to stretch endlessly into the distance. The way ahead was illuminated only by the car's small headlights; anything beyond was indecipherable.

Verne heard yawning behind him, and saw the porcupine kids struggling to stay awake, leaning against their parents. "I'm tired," Bucky said sleepily, "what time is it?"

"I don't know, honey," Penny said as she stroked her child gently, "but it's late."

"Well, it's certainly late _enough_," Lou replied, looking around. "Not many cars have passed us. We must be all alone on the road."

"Yeah, well, I hope that doesn't change," Verne muttered as he turned back to the map.

Tiger was stargazing. "Look," he said, pointing a paw upward, "there is ze Big Dipper."

"You know, the North Star is part of that constellation," Snowy said thoughtfully. "And we're heading toward it, which must mean that we're going north too."

Verne checked the map again and sure enough, she was right. According to the little compass in the map's key, at any rate. Verne's heart lifted slightly: at least now he _knew_ that they were on the right track.

"Lights fading ..." came Ozzie's sleepy voice. "Limbs growing cold..."

"Oh, Dad," Heather sighed in exasperation, "do we have to go through this _every time_ you get a little tired? Just be quiet and get some rest." She yawned. "I could use some too right about now..."

"Are we there yet?" came Quillo's voice, which also sounded sleepy.

"We get there when we get there," Stella replied, as she adjusted the car's controls to make a slight turn.

"Why do I suddenly feel like I've heard everything?" Verne muttered to himself as he started to fold up the map. His attempt was disastrous, however: no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get the map to fold up properly. Frustrated, he finally crunched it into a ball and tossed it under the backseat. Verne sighed: he was tired too. He let his elbows rest on the fake steering wheel and watched the road as Stella drove on.

But wait a minute: the car was slowing. Verne heard the little engine inside it start to wind down. Stella pushed on the controls, but instead of going faster, the car slowed even further, finally coming to rest at the top of a small hill.

Without the car's engine running, the night seemed eerily quiet to Verne. The headlights had flickered off; all of their surroundings were dark. Crickets chirped softly, cars — _real_ cars — rumbled from far away, and somewhere in the distance, a dog barked.

Finally Verne broke the silence. "What's —" He turned to see Stella pushing the remote control in frustration. "Why've we stopped?"

"Batteries probably ran out," said Spike matter-of-factly; he was the only one of his family who seemed fully awake. "Don't worry, I packed some more."

The little porcupine dove under the seat in front of him, and emerged with a little plastic bag. Inside it were four AA batteries.

"Two of these go inside the car," Spike said, and he gestured backward. "The compartment's back there." He handed two of the batteries to Verne, and two to Stella. "The others go inside the remote."

"Wow. Thanks, Spike," Verne said, as he looked at the batteries with wonder. "You know a lot about this."

Spike shrugged. "RJ taught us most of it."

Verne climbed out of the car and shut the front door, walking to the back. Sure enough, there was a compartment built into the car's fender. Verne popped the lid and found two batteries inside. Gingerly he took them out and replaced them with the new batteries, getting a little electric shock in the process. "Ow," he said, sticking his finger in his mouth. With his other hand he shut the compartment, then wandered back to the front seat.

He climbed in again, and saw that Stella had already changed the batteries to the remote. She pulled one of the controls back, and the car moved backward a little bit. Stella whistled. "That was easy," she said as she tossed the four dead batteries back to Spike.

"Don't get comfortable," Verne said cautiously, "it's probably the easiest thing that we'll do on this trip."

"Could you _be_ any more pessimistic?" Stella said sarcastically as she pushed the controls forward, and the car rolled down the hill, quickly gaining speed.

"I don't think I'm pessimistic," Verne shot back as he clutched the steering wheel again. "I prefer the term _real_istic."

Stella rolled her eyes and again pushed on the controls. The car rolled on, the headlights flickering back to life and illuminating the road before them once more. Trees and shrubbery zipped by as Stella adjusted the remote so the car would go faster.

"Are we there _now?_" came Quillo's voice.

Verne sighed. This was going to be a long trip.

* * *

RJ opened his mouth to scream, and the wolf quickly placed a paw over it. "Sssh," he whispered, "they'll hear."

The humans looked plenty knocked out to RJ, but he couldn't exactly argue with the wolf's paw over his mouth. "I've locked the door," the wolf explained quietly, "but it won't be long before someone figures out what happened and sends in more people. Now if you'll just stay quiet, I can get you out of here."

He removed his paw, and RJ inhaled deeply. The wolf checked over his shoulder, then bent down toward the shackle on RJ's left wrist. Slipping his teeth through it delicately, the wolf wrestled with it for a minute — and the shackle broke. He did the same with the one around RJ's other wrist. RJ stretched, enjoying the freedom after being locked up for so long, then bent down to undo the shackles around his feet, while the wolf moved on to Hammy. Soon the squirrel was free too, and RJ and Hammy jumped from the table down to the floor.

"Um, excuse me — now what?" Hammy whispered, looking around. Some of the humans were starting to stir.

"Come on," said the wolf, "follow me."

The three of them strode quickly across the room, ignoring the groans of the waking humans. The wolf reared up on his hind legs again and unlocked the door. He looked through the window to make sure the coast was clear, and then slipped the door open, gesturing for RJ and Hammy to go through it.

The three of them were back in the hallway, the wolf closing the door behind them and locking it again. "Let's go," he said, "we've got to get out of here. Hop on."

He beckoned RJ and Hammy forward, and they leaped onto his shoulders. RJ grabbed Hammy around the waist as the wolf leaped forward, running down the hallway in long, powerful strides. Doors and windows zipped by them as they moved throughout the building. RJ caught glimpses of more signs that said things like CLOROX EXAMINATION ROOM and _Please don't litter: Throw carcasses in trash_ and shivered.

Finally the wolf stopped: They had reached a section of the hallway that branched off three ways. The wolf looked down the three of them, and looked to be deciding which direction to take.

"Where are we going?" Hammy asked him apprehensively.

The wolf looked over his shoulders at the squirrel. "We're looking for the loading area. That's where the van dropped you off. You can escape out that way ..." his voice trailed off as he looked down the hallways again. "...if we _find_ it," he muttered.

"Where — where exactly _are_ we?" RJ asked him.

"You," the wolf said, now striding down the center hallway, "are trapped in an animal-testing lab with about twenty other critters. The people here do testing for cosmetic companies in addition to experiments of their own. They make products that are _made_ from animals, and _tested_ on animals, while on the other side scientists inject animals with new chemicals and mixtures, all in the name of 'discovery'."

He stopped walking and looked over his shoulder at RJ again. "You," he said simply, "are in hell."

RJ swallowed hard. "Oh. Um..." He couldn't think of anything to say. Fortunately, he didn't have to: the wolf began walking forward again, looking around cautiously. "Name's Rob," he said conversationally, and RJ was glad for the change of subject. "And you guys?"

"Oh," RJ said, "uh — this is Hammy," he gestured to the squirrel, who grinned reluctantly, "and I'm RJ."

"Nice to meet you," Rob said, looking back at them.

"You, too," RJ said, almost automatically, but then a thought struck him. "Hey," he said, looking at the wolf's intent face, "why did you —"

"Wait," Rob said suddenly, and he stopped walking. His ears swiveled as he looked down the hallway. "Someone's coming," he said, and indeed, RJ heard footsteps some distance away, getting louder by the second.

"Wh-what're we gonna do?" Hammy squeaked, nibbling on his paws nervously.

"In here," the wolf replied, and headed toward another door, this one unmarked. He tried the handle and found it unlocked, then swung the door open and stepped inside cautiously, closing it behind him with a rear paw.

RJ held his breath as he looked through the door's window. He could hear the footsteps coming closer. The human was walking toward them ... he was right next to the room ... his shadow was right in front of the door... and then the footsteps faded, and RJ sighed with relief. Turning from the door, he got his first good look at the room and gasped.

They were standing inside a small, dark room with an incredibly tall ceiling. Shelves lined three of the walls and were stacked with endless bottles and vials, all of them full to the brim with various liquids. RJ and Hammy jumped off of Rob's back and climbed up some of the shelves together. Looking closely at a few of the bottles, RJ saw labels like "ANTIDERMAL" and "TOXICITY REDUCTION". He had no idea what any of them meant, but apparently Rob did.

"They're _antidotes_," he said in wonderment, looking around the room, "all _antidotes_ ... there must be something in here for every chemical they've got."

He looked at a few of the bottles. "I could use some of them right now," he muttered, almost to himself.

RJ looked at him. "What do you mean?"

Rob hadn't been looking at him, and for a moment appeared not to have heard — but then he sighed, lowering his head. His tail drooped forlornly, and RJ wondered if he'd said something wrong. But then, almost abruptly, Rob asked: "Do you know why I saved you two?"

RJ looked at Hammy, puzzled, and shook his head.

"I felt responsible," Rob said, pacing across the floor, not looking at RJ and Hammy. "Because, I suppose, it's my fault that the two of you were captured in the first place. I saw what they did to you in the van. It wasn't easy watching."

A realization suddenly struck RJ. "You were the other person in there," he said suddenly, and Hammy gasped. "You were the one I saw trying to get out. Before we were carried off."

Rob finally looked up at him. "Yes — and no."

"What — what are you talking about?"

Rob was silent for a moment, then opened his mouth to respond — and suddenly a violent blaring filled the room. The lights shut off, and were replaced by a glaring red beacon that circled round the room as a violent buzzer sounded off again and again. RJ and Hammy quickly jumped off the shelves and back to the floor, and Rob shouted, "It's an alarm! They must have discovered what happened in the testing room. Come on!"

"Why can't we just hide out in here?" RJ shouted, leaping back onto Rob's shoulders anyway, with Hammy following close behind.

"Because there's no telling what might happen if any of this stuff got smashed," Rob explained calmly, and started to open the door. Groups of humans were rushing past, down toward the testing room, and no one was looking round, else they might have seen an unmarked door open slightly, a wolf's eye peering through it. Rob waited until the group of humans had gone and looked down the hallway. "No one else is coming — good!" Rob burst out of the door and bolted, running faster than RJ and Hammy would have thought possible. The raccoon and the squirrel just managed to cling on to Rob's shoulders as the world zipped by in a blur.

The blaring alarm intensified, the red lights flashing quicker and the buzzing increasing in volume, and RJ wondered if it was because the humans had discovered he and Hammy were missing. He didn't have much time to speculate, though: As Rob flew down the hallway, door after door burst open, and more humans poured out of every single one. Cries of "There they are!" and "Get them!" soon filled RJ's ears, and Rob began running even faster, a group of humans hot on his tail.

"If we can just get to the loading area," he shouted, "we should be fine! There's a lot of places to hide. You guys should be able to make off in the van!"

"Wait — aren't you coming with us?" Hammy yelled.

Rob didn't answer, and for good reason: A human had appeared in front of him, holding a queer-looking gun that was aimed at the three animals. RJ recognized it as a gun that trapped animals in nets, having seen one from his experiences with the Verminator. He gasped and grabbed Hammy, preparing to get captured ... but Rob jumped just as the human fired, and the net passed under them. Rob, on the other hand, barreled into the human, striking him in the head and causing him to fall to the floor. Rob jumped again and was immediately back on the hallway floor, racing down a path that only he apparently knew.

"We're almost there!" the wolf shouted, "Look!"

RJ looked ahead of them, and his eyes widened: Directly in front of them, growing larger by the minute, were the double doors that he remembered. The sight seemed to give Rob new strength, too, and he ran still faster. RJ heard the cries of the humans behind them start to fade, and his heart lifted. "We're almost there, Hammy!" he shouted joyfully to the squirrel, who was looking forward apprehensively. "We're going to make it!"

Suddenly a large shadow stepped in front of the two doors, holding an all-too-familiar-looking device in his hands. Rob didn't stop, though, and kept running forward. The human came into better view and RJ recognized him as the other man that had captured he and Hammy. In the human's hand was another needle, just like the one that had caused RJ so much pain.

"You're not going _anywhere_ —" the scientist started to scream at them.

"_Get out of the way!_" Rob growled, and he leaped forward. Thinking quickly, RJ reached over Rob's shoulders and knocked the needle out of the human's hands. Rob, meanwhile, went for the man's throat, sinking his teeth into his neck. The human's eyes widened slightly, and he collapsed to the floor, unconscious.

Rob fell with the human and landed on all four feet, removing his teeth from the man's neck delicately. "You only have to hurt them a little," he smiled, and sprinted through the double doors. RJ and Hammy leaped from Rob's shoulders and closed the doors, dragging a large crate across them to keep the humans from following.

RJ turned around. There it was. "The van!" Hammy shouted, abandoning the crate and zipping forward. RJ followed him. "Can you drive this thing?" Hammy asked him as he opened the van's back doors to let RJ in. "Better than the porcupine kids could," RJ grinned.

RJ leaped forward, into the van, and Hammy followed suit. The pair turned around to see if Rob was following them — and then suddenly everything went black.


	8. Marissa & Katrina

"There it is," said Verne.

Looming before the Hedgies was a large, ominous-looking building, lit by harsh lights that stood out sharply against the surrounding darkness. Looking closer, Verne saw that the lab was composed of a central structure, surrounded by three smaller ones. Verne supposed that each was home to a different series of tests and experiments. The turtle shuddered: What had RJ and Hammy gotten themselves into?

After nearly two hours of seeing only some grass and trees, this large building had come as something of a shock to most of the gang. The porcupine kids were particularly affected, and hugged each other tightly, shivering, as Penny and Lou tried to calm them. Tiger was also nervous: His face had turned an odd shade of gray and he unconsciously backed against his seat, his tail straight and bushy. Snowy rolled her eyes, lifted a paw and gently lowered Tiger's tail.

Ozzie, meanwhile, was holding a hand to his chest, his heart beating rapidly. His eyes rolled up into the back of his head and he started to fall backward — but then Heather looked at him and said, "Don't even, Dad." Ozzie straightened up, looked at his daughter and grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, honey. Old habits."

Stella pushed down again on the remote in her hands, and the car zoomed ever closer to the lab, picking up speed. "Where should we park this?" she asked, looking over at Verne.

"Oh. Um —" The turtle thought for a moment, then pointed to one of the smaller buildings, the one closest to them. "Just head for that one right there," he instructed, and the car turned slightly as Stella adjusted the controls. "We can park under that window."

The car raced toward the building, bouncing slightly as Stella moved it through the grass so as to stay out of the lab's harsh lights. She flicked a switch on the controls and the car's headlights went off, rendering the Hedgies virtually invisible to any humans who might happen to look outside. Soon they had scooted off the grass and onto hard concrete, and Stella slowed the car down, finally stopping below the window that Verne had specified. Stella flicked another switch and the car shut off completely, its headlights blinking twice and beeping before they darkened.

No one moved for a moment. The only sounds came from the lab: Hums and whirrs and beeps that didn't sound too reassuring to any of the Hedgies. Verne looked up at the window but couldn't see anything behind it. The turtle gulped, then turned around to face the others.

"Well?" he said finally. "You ready?"

Everyone looked too scared to speak. The Hedgies looked at each other nervously, unsure of what to do next. Then Tiger broke the silence: "I am ready," he said, gazing at everyone intently. "I shall do it for RJ und Hammy."

"Me too! Me too! Me too!" shouted the porcupine kids, bouncing up and down on their seats. "We're ready!"

"And so are we, I guess," Penny said, and she and Lou hugged each other tightly.

"For Hammy and RJ!" shouted Ozzie, raising a fist high, and Heather nodded in agreement. "Let us begin!"

"All right, then," said Stella as she opened her door and stepped out of the car. "Let's go."

All of the Hedgies immediately leaped out of the car, their resolve strengthened as they headed for the lab. "We're going to have to get on each other's shoulders to get up there," Verne said as he looked up at the window, and Tiger immediately crouched down and said, "Here. I vill be on ze bottom."

Stella smiled as she watched Verne struggling to get on Tiger's back. But then she realized something, and her smile faded ... they were missing someone.

She turned around and saw Snowy still in the car, gazing up at the lab nervously. She hadn't moved, but her tail was bushy just like Tiger's had been. "You're not gettin' cold feet, are you?" Stella said mockingly, and Snowy was snapped out of her trance as she glared back at Stella. "Of course not," the cat said coolly. "My feet are furry. They never get cold."

"So you comin' or what?" Stella said, gesturing toward the rest of the gang.

"Oh, I'm coming," Snowy replied, and she leaped out of the car, landing in front of Stella. She looked at the skunk, and her eyes narrowed. "You won't get rid of me that easily."

* * *

RJ groaned. Where was he? His vision was blurry. Had he been hit with a needle again? What was going on?

His vision came into better focus, and RJ groaned again. A cage. He was in another cage. When was it all going to end?

Slowly he sat up, rubbing his head. He wasn't as dizzy this time around, which was good. But where exactly was he? He looked around the room, taking in his surroundings. It wasn't much different from the one he had been in before, except there were more empty cages. And what was the sign on the door? Squinting hard, RJ saw in backward letters the words VIOLENT ANIMALS: HOLDING PEN.

RJ blinked. Violent animals? _This_ was where the humans had put him? Where were the others?

"RJ?" came a voice. "Hammy!" RJ shouted, relieved, as he scurried to the left side of his cage. Through the bars RJ could see another cage, stacked right next to his, in which the little squirrel was nibbling his paws anxiously and zipping all over the cage, too nervous to stay in one place for long.

"Hammy, you all right?" RJ asked. "Did they do anything to you?"

"Nope, I'm fine," Hammy said matter-of-factly, still zipping from side to side. "But I don't — I don't know what's going _on_! What are the humans planning now?"

"I don't —" RJ started, but then heard a cough from below him. RJ dashed to the other side of his cage and looked down: Imprisoned in another, larger cage, some distance away from RJ and Hammy, was Rob.

"Rob!" Hammy shouted, having seen him too. "Are you okay?"

"Should have seen it coming," the wolf said weakly, looking up at them helplessly. "The loading area was rigged. The humans used it to trap us in a huge net."

"You're not the only ones," came another, more feminine voice, and RJ jumped. He looked up: there was yet another cage, this one much smaller, above his. Inside were two large gray rats. RJ could tell they'd been there a long time: Their fur was patched and some of it was missing; their tails were limp and bruised; and they kept blinking like they'd had too many things squirted in their eyes, which had an exhausted, seen-too-much look. How they could look this way and still appear friendly was a mystery to RJ, but these rats seemed quite amicable to him.

"They've done that to us too," said the smaller of the two, looking down at RJ, "on our last attempt. One night we tried to escape but we went out the door that we had come in. We set off a motion sensor or something, and next thing we knew we ended up back in here."

"They put all the animals that have almost escaped in here," said the other, her arm slung over her companion's shoulder. "But until you guys came along, we were the only residents. I guess they think we might be unstable ... of course," she smirked, "this could also be because I bit about five humans who tried to get me to swallow some oven-cleaner... got them all infected..."

"My name's Marissa," said the smaller rat, and she gestured toward the other. "This here's my big sister, Katrina." Katrina waved. "How can we be of service?"

"We — we just want to get back to the log," Hammy murmured, looking down sadly. "We want to go home."

"Sorry, pal," Katrina said gently, "but it looks to me like this is gonna be your home for the rest of your life. They've got traps rigged all over this place ... you'd be lucky to get five feet from the building."

"But we've _got_ to get home," the squirrel muttered, wringing his paws gently. "Our family's there. They need us. And we need them."

RJ looked over at Hammy, who was now nibbling his paws distractedly. There was a lot of truth to his words, RJ realized ... they couldn't just give up. Sighing, he turned back to Katrina and Marissa. "Look," he said, "I know our chances our slim. But can you please tell us how to get out of these cages?"

Katrina and Marissa exchanged looks. They seemed skeptical, but all the same turned back to RJ, and Katrina said: "What's your lab name?"

"My — what?" RJ asked, confused.

"Your lab name," Marissa said. "The humans call you by a sequence of numbers and letters. Mine's 03-LM. What's yours?"

"Oh — uh — 19-JG," RJ said. "Hammy's is 42-DA."

"Look on the latch on your cage," Katrina instructed, and RJ turned and walked along the cage bars until he found it. "See the lock on there? Arrange the dials to say 19-JG, and it should pop open. Then you can get out."

"Seriously?" RJ asked, impressed, as he looked back at the rats, who nodded. "When did — how did you — why didn't you guys escape long ago?"

"We've tried," Katrina replied, with a defeated look. "Eight times."

RJ blinked. "Um — oh," he said quietly.

"Which is why," Marissa said, leaning back on her cage wall, "we've given up."

"Given up?" RJ asked, shocked. "Why should you give up? You've got this far, haven't you? Why don't you just try again?"

"We _have_ tried again," Katrina responded, with an awful finality. "Eight times we were captured and seven times we tried again. Meanwhile, the stuff they did to us — the _experiments_ they performed on us — got worse and worse because the humans were bent on revenge. That's what they _do_ here. You don't think these are regular _scientists_, do you? They're barbarians, and we're not willing to risk another encounter with them. If you guys are, then that's your call. We're staying here."

With that, the two rats walked to the other end of their cage, laid down, and curled up for a nap, signifying the end of the discussion. RJ watched them go and sighed again. He walked forlornly to the latch on his cage, and poked his head and arms through the bars of his cage. Quietly he twiddled the dials on the lock. "One ..." he muttered, finishing the first, then the second, "nine ..." The next two had letters instead of numbers: "J ... G."

RJ finished keying in his lab name, and just as the rats had promised, the lock popped open. RJ wrestled it off of the latch, drew back into his cage, popped the door open and jumped out with excitement. He was free! But, he thought darkly, how long will it last?

Looking over at Hammy's cage, RJ saw that the squirrel had done the same thing: His lock lay on the floor and his door was open. Unlike RJ, however, the squirrel was still sitting in his cage, wringing his paws again and sighing deeply. His ears were flat against his skull and his tail drooped dejectedly. Puzzled, RJ strode over to Hammy's cage and looked in, asking, "What's up, Hamsquad?"

"RJ," the squirrel whispered tentatively, "What — what if they're — well, right? What if we get caught again? And the humans try to do more stuff to us? Should we just call this ... place ... our new home? Our new family?"

"Hammy," RJ said gently, climbing in beside the squirrel, "perk those ears up, little buddy." He scratched the little squirrel's head, and Hammy sighed again. "Hamsquad, come on," RJ said, "you know this place will never be our home. It doesn't deserve to be _called_ a home, it's just a —" RJ stopped, sighed and went on. "Our real family is out there," the raccoon whispered, "and they're probably wondering where we are. We wouldn't want to keep them worried, would we?"

Hammy looked up at RJ, and his ears started to perk up a little. "No ... I guess not..." he said quietly.

"Of course not," RJ smiled. "Plus, you could never find any cookies in here. Now what do you say we get back to the log?"

Hammy stood up. "Right behind you, RJ," he said, saluting, his ears back to little points.

RJ chuckled. "Now that's the Hammy I know." The pair turned and climbed out of the cage, walking along the tabletop till they reached the edge. They slid gently down the table leg and skittered across the floor, RJ constantly checking the door for any sign of a human shadow or a turning doorknob. Finally they reached a corner and stood against the wall, inching down it so as not to be seen should a human walk in.

A thought suddenly struck RJ. "Hammy — wait here." The raccoon skittered across the floor again and climbed another table leg, hopping up empty cage after empty cage, until he came to the one on top. Quickly he keyed in 03-LM on the lock, and the door sprang open.

Marissa and Katrina were inside, apparently sleeping — but when they heard the door swing open they both looked up, in some puzzlement, at RJ, who grinned at them.

"Just wanted you two to know that you have a choice," he said. "Thanks for the help."

With that, he turned and jumped down the stack of cages again, slid down the table leg and rejoined Hammy. The two inched along the wall slowly, pausing every so often to check for approaching humans, then resuming. Presently they came to the back of Rob's cage. They circled round the front and found the wolf laying down, facing the back wall of his cage and breathing deeply. Was that whimpering RJ heard?

"Rob," RJ whispered, but the wolf didn't turn around. "Rob!" RJ said again, a little louder. "Rob! What's your lab name?"

Finally the wolf turned and faced him, gazing at RJ and Hammy unblinkingly. "If you knew what I had done to you two," he said slowly, evenly, "you probably wouldn't be so keen to help me escape."

"What — what are you —" RJ was unsettled. "Look, Rob, just tell us your lab name and we can get you out of here!"

"I probably shouldn't, RJ. I don't exactly deserve it." Rob sighed as he looked down, away from RJ and Hammy. The wolf was silent for a minute, but then went on: "You're trapped in here in the first place because of me. My family heard what was going on and they called for someone ... I guess they didn't figure it'd be a group of mad scientists that would take _me_ as well..."

"What are you saying?" Hammy asked nervously. "The — the only thing we did that night was to — was to go for some cookies —"

"Hammy's right," RJ said, looking back at Rob. "How can it be your fault? You haven't done anything to us."

"You've _helped_ us, Rob," Hammy added. "You saved us from being tested on. You showed us a way to escape. How could you have harmed us?"

"But I _have_ —" the wolf started, but suddenly fell silent: There were footsteps approaching. Outside the door. RJ turned and saw, with a jolt, a shadow looming ever-closer through the glass.

"Hammy!" he whispered frantically, "get behind the cage!"

They only just made it when the door burst open and in strode the scientist that had captured them, then tried to test the spray on RJ. In one hand he held a clipboard; in the other a walkie-talkie. "— completely out of control," the scientist was saying into the walkie-talkie. "He evaded an entire team of workers?"

"That's correct," came a crackling voice over the walkie-talkie, and RJ shivered, recognizing the other scientist from the van. "He put four holes in my neck, Dr. Vexon. I'm in the recovery room right now. And he almost escaped the lab. We have to do something."

"I agree," Dr. Vexon muttered, now looking from the clipboard to Rob and back again. RJ heard the wolf shuffling in his cage nervously, wondering what was going on. "Still," the doctor continued, "I hate to see all that research go to waste..."

For a moment the scientist looked intently at Rob, his unblinking eyes boring into the wolf. Finally Dr. Vexon said into the walkie-talkie, "I suppose you're right, Dr. Lorgan."

He looked back at the wolf again, and a chill ran down RJ's spine. "He needs to be euthanized."


	9. Rob's Secret

"Ow! Guys, stop pushing, I can get it!" Verne exclaimed as he teetered toward the window. The Hedgies had stacked themselves up one by one to reach it, Verne on top — and now that they _had_ reached it, Verne couldn't get it open. It was locked.

"Whoa!" the turtle yelled, his arms waving as he struggled to balance atop the shaking pile. "Guys, stop, this isn't working! We can't get in!"

"Don't just give _up_!" Stella shouted from right beneath Verne, as she strained to keep the turtle atop her shoulders. "Break it, or something!"

"_Break_ it?" Verne gasped, and the pile tilted away from, then back toward, the window. "But — I don't — I don't know how!"

"Well, _figure out a way!_" Snowy bellowed from atop Tiger's back. The two cats were straining, red in the face, to keep all of the animals' weight firmly on their shoulders. "We're dying here!"

"I'm _trying!_" Verne said, but the pile suddenly teetered again, and Verne's face and hands slammed into the window. The glass shook but didn't break, and Verne's cheeks slid down it before he managed to separate himself from the window.

"Maybe this will help," came a muffled voice, and Verne froze, his eyes widening. Stella had also heard it, and she quickly shushed the animals below her. They stood there for a moment, the pile shaking dangerously — then they heard a click, and the window opened from the inside. The stack promptly teetered again and sent Verne careening through the opening and crashing onto the floor below.

"Oof," Verne grunted, slowly raising himself up from the floor. The turtle stood up and looked around. The room was dark, the only light coming in through the window. Crickets chirped softly in the distance as Verne spun on his heel, trying to make out the details of the room — then something furry collided with the back of his head and he fell again for the second time.

"Sorry," Stella said sheepishly as she helped Verne to his feet. "Lost control."

Verne rolled his eyes and turned to the window. Ozzie and Heather were climbing through, hoisting the rest of the Hedgies up. Lou and Penny came next, carrying their kids cautiously; then Snowy and Tiger lifted themselves up on the window ledge. "Is zat everyone?" Tiger panted, as he leaped onto the floor beside Verne.

"Should be," Snowy muttered, joining him. The cat looked around the room, her eyes glowing eerily in the dark. "Who let us in?"

"I did," came the voice, and the Hedgies jumped. Something had stirred in the shadows. Something large and rather furry. Verne unconsciously backed toward the wall, the rest of the Hedgies following suit. The shadow was moving forward — a pair of dark eyes gleamed — a sharp nose twitched and sniffed them — two dark brown paws stepped into the light —

And out of the darkness emerged a rabbit.

All of the Hedgies exhaled sharply, and Verne groaned. "Maybe I'm just overly cautious," he said, stepping forward cautiously toward the bunny, "but you nearly gave me a heart attack."

"Sorry," the rabbit apologized. "Can't be too careful, you know?"

"I guess not," Stella muttered, looking around the room again. "Not in a place like this."

"My name's Willow," said the rabbit conversationally, and she held out a paw for Verne to shake (which the turtle did, carefully). "The humans call me 56-PL. And forgive me for asking, but why the heck did you people break _into_ this place? Usually animals are trying to break _out_..."

"It's 'cause our buddies are, like, trapped in here," Heather explained, "and we're gonna bust them out."

"Ah," Verne heard, and with a jolt the turtle saw another rabbit emerge to stand beside Willow. "The new arrivals. We've heard about them. Caused quite a ruckus, they did."

"This is my fiancé, Jackson," Willow added, gesturing toward the new bunny. "He's from the South."

"Oh, please, just call me 07-LK," Jackson said, with a hint of sarcasm. "So you folks are here to rescue the three newbies? That's brave of ya. There'z not many people that would attempt that, no siree."

"Well, they're our family," Verne said. "And we're going to — wait — did you say _three_ new arrivals?"

"Yep," Jackson confirmed. "According to the humans, they're in the "Violent Animals" room right now. Almost escaped, they did."

"Yeah. _Almost_," Willow said with disgust. "Just like every other animal that's come through here. Katrina and Marissa were right. Did you know that John over there tried to go out through the window and got his leg broken when a human pulled him back in? It's not easy for a cat to recover from something like that, you know."

"A cat?" Snowy said, suddenly interested. "Where is he?"

"Follow the eyes," Jackson shrugged, gesturing toward the shadows. Snowy looked around — and saw two golden flecks shimmering in the darkness. They were up above the Hedgies, some distance away from the window. Snowy headed toward the eyes — and promptly crashed into something cold and hard. Falling back and clutching her nose, the cat exclaimed, "Would _someone_ please turn on the lights?"

"I gotcha," came a third voice, and the eyes above Snowy moved slightly. The Hedgies heard a click, and suddenly the room was flooded with a bright, fluorescent light. Squinting, Snowy saw that she had crashed into another cage — and inside was a gopher. "Whoa!" the cat exclaimed, jumping backward.

The Hedgies, however, were too busy staring at the rest of the room to notice Snowy's alarm. The light had revealed dozens and dozens of cages, stacked on top of one another, each containing an animal. There were cats, there were rats, there were amphibians (and reptiles, Verne noticed). There was even a hedgehog. And all of the cages had signs on them that said things like 98-ZB, 67-ST, or 81-NN.

"Wow," Stella whispered, as she looked around, "this place is _huge_."

"How — what — I don't —" Verne spluttered. "How many of you are _in_ here?"

"Twenty-three," said the cat above Snowy. "We've counted."

"Like, wow," Heather said, amazed. "You people should, like, just gang up on the humans. You totally outnumber them."

"Oh, we've tried," Jackson growled. "They play dirty."

"What do you mean?" Penny said cautiously.

"I _mean_ that every time some folks try to stage a revolution, those said folks get — how can I put it — "put to sleep"?"

"Erm — what?" Lou said.

The cat above Snowy drew a finger across his throat.

"Oh," said Ozzie meekly, for once at a complete loss for words.

"Well," Verne said hastily, "Heather's got a point, you know. I mean, if all of you were to try and get free at the same time, then the humans couldn't possibly put _all_ of you — um — to 'sleep', could they? They'd be too overwhelmed!"

"He's got a point, honey," Willow said fairly. Jackson just growled again. "And what would happen to the animals they _did_ catch?" he asked Verne. "There's no sense in risking _all_ of us just so _some_ could get free. What then?"

"I'll tell you what then," the cat said from above Snowy, as he paced around his cage. There was a maddened gleam in his eyes, and his tail was swaying ferociously. "I'd rather be _dead_ than be subjected to another one of those humans' '_experiments_'." (He made air quotes with his paws sarcastically.) "I've been here for four years and I haven't seen the light of day once. I should _think_ that any one of us would be willing to risk something to see the outside world again."

"Yeah, well, that _something_ turns out to be your life, John," said a lizard from beside the cat. The reptile sneered. "You're willing to jeopardize _that_ just to see some _sunshine_?"

"Baloney!" yelled the hedgehog. "Getting free is worth everything in the world! _You_ should know that, Berne, you miserable little gila monster — spent seven years in the desert before the humans swooped you into this place, didn't cha? Don't you want to get back to the cactus that was your home?"

"I didn't live in a cactus!" the lizard shouted back. "I was quite happy under a rock, thank you very much!"

A storm of arguing broke out in the little room. Cats meowed; rats hissed; Berne the gila monster stuck his tongue out at the hedgehog; cages rocked back and forth, teetering dangerously on their stacks; and John the cat reached a paw through the bars of his cage and keyed in 05-LX. The cage lock popped open and the cat jumped carefully down on the floor beside the Hedgies. Verne noticed that he had to be cautious, because his back foot was wrapped in a thin bandage, not fully healed.

"_QUIET!_" John yelled, and the argument before them gradually ceased. "Look, this is exactly what goes on every time somebody _dares_ to start talking of a _better life_! Now if we're going to get anywhere, we need to shut up and cooperate. I don't care _what_ any of you say, I'm going with these guys —" he gestured toward the startled Hedgies — "and none of you can stop me!"

"The _humans_ will," Jackson countered, but Willow elbowed him gently. "Honey, he's right," she said sternly. "We should go with them." The rabbit turned her gaze toward the Hedgies. "That is, if you want us to," she said to them.

Verne blinked. He certainly hadn't expected _this_ when he went to rescue RJ & Hammy — but he realized that Willow was right. They couldn't just leave these critters to suffer at the hands of the humans ... and if RJ and Hammy were going to be rescued, then so would the rest of their fellow captives. "Sure," Verne finally said, gesturing toward the door. "Come on."

Willow grinned. "Let's go, Jackson," she said to her husband, and the bunny grimaced. "Well, if Willow goes, I go," he said reluctantly, looking down.

John grinned. "Nice," he said, as he looked up. "Anyone else coming?"

There was silence in the room for a minute — then the hedgehog's cage swung open and he scampered to join the group. "I am. George the hedgehog, at your service." He bowed.

Stella chuckled. "Nice to meet you, George."

"And I'm Frank," a frog added as he hopped down from the top of a stack of cages. "I'm in."

"So am I," said a bird, as she fluttered over to join the Hedgies. "Let's head out."

One by one all of the animals joined the Hedgies, all of them introducing themselves — and all of them eager to get free. Verne looked around the growing group, amazed. Ozzie and Heather were making small talk with an owl; the porcupine kids were playing around with a hamster as their parents discussed the situation with a toad; Stella and Tiger were shaking paws with a white rat; and Snowy was talking to John — rather animatedly, Verne noticed. And was that a blush creeping up her face? At any rate, there was no mistaking that Snowy was definitely scooting a little closer than normal toward John.

"Is that everyone?" Willow finally asked, looking around the room as the group headed toward the door. The rabbit did a quick head count: "Let's see, with eleven of you, there should be thirty-four in all ..." she muttered to herself for a moment, as her eyes darted to each of the animals. "thirty-one ... thirty-two ... thirty-three." She started: "Hang on, we're missing someone. Where's —"

"I'm not going," came a voice, and the animals turned to see Berne the gila monster, still sitting in his cage and looking dejected. "I'll take my chances saying in the lab, thank you very much," the lizard said, folding his arms. "The survival rate is higher."

"Oh, so you'll survive to get experimented on some more?" John snorted, glaring up at Berne. "Some life."

"John, don't push him," Willow said gently, placing a paw lightly on the cat's shoulder. "If he wants to stay, we'll let him."

John snorted again, but all the same turned back to the group. "Okay, gang," he said to the crowd of animals, "are we ready to head out?"

"Hang on," Verne muttered, and all of the animals faced him. Shifting uncomfortably, feeling like he was in a spotlight, Verne said, "We can't just go out there without thinking. We need a plan." Here he turned to look only at the Hedgies. "I don't pretend to be as good as RJ on this," he said to them quietly, "but I think I have something in mind. It involves all of us." He lowered his eyes. "Will you go with me on this?"

"Right on, Verne!" Stella cried, punching a fist in the air. The rest of the critters followed suit, cheering enthusiastically. Verne looked back up at the crowd of animals and grinned.

"All righty then. Here's how it works..."

* * *

"Euthanization. Copy that. I'll inform the other departments," came the voice from the walkie-talkie, and Dr. Vexon shut it off, clipping it to his coat. The scientist smiled nastily at Rob, his sharp teeth gleaming in the semidarkness. "Now you'll see what happens when you try to mess with us," he said as he strode from the room. He turned to shut the door behind him, his gaze on Rob unwavering. "Enjoy your last few moments."

The door slammed shut, and RJ heard the sounds of a lock being turned. He and Hammy ran out from behind the cage and found Rob in a considerable panic, the wolf pacing around the cage frantically. "Rob?" Hammy asked him tentatively, and the wolf turned to look at him. "What were they talking about? What's going to happen to you?"

"Hammy," RJ whispered fearfully, "they're going to _kill_ him." He looked back at Rob and dove for the lock on his cage. "Rob, we need to get you out, _now! What's your lab name?_"

"It's —" Rob started, but suddenly the door banged open again. "_Hide!_" the wolf hissed, and instinctively RJ grabbed Hammy and dove back behind Rob's cage before the humans could notice them. Peering out cautiously, RJ saw Dr. Vexon striding forward again, still clinging to his clipboard — but in the other hand he held a needle, much bigger and sharper than RJ's had been.

"Time for your medicine," the doctor said evilly. RJ heard Rob shuffling in his cage again and knew the wolf was backing against the wall, trying to distance himself from the scientist. The human, however, simply kneeled down, keyed in the code on the lock and opened the latch. RJ and Hammy ran for the front of the cage — they weren't going to make it — Dr. Vexon pushed the needle forward toward Rob —

"_NO!"_ came a voice, and another human dove into the room, yanking a shocked Dr. Vexon back from the cage and shoving him toward the door. Panting furiously, the scientist looked up to see who had stopped him — and RJ recognized the human that had carried him over to the testing room. The one that had apologized to him. The nicer human.

"Vexon, you can't _do_ this!" the man shouted at the doctor in agitation. "You _can't!_ He's just a _kid!_"

"What are you talking about?" Dr. Vexon sneered nastily, struggling to his feet. "He's seventeen, Parker. For a wolf, that's ancient!"

"_You know damn well he's not a wolf!_" Dr. Parker screamed back, and RJ heard Hammy gasp from beside him. "He's a _kid! _ A _teenager!_ And _you_ injected him with some evil serum that turned him into this! It's bad enough that you're experimenting on _animals_, but now you have to go after _humans_ too? He's a teenage boy!"

"And right now, he's an experiment," Dr. Vexon said coldly. "An experiment that's gone wrong. So if you _get out of the way_, we can put it right."

"You _freak!_" screamed Parker. "He's just _money_ to you, isn't he? An _object!_ Some _vehicle_ to host your sick, twisted _research_! Well, to _me_ he's just a boy who needs to get home, and I'm _not going to let you kill him!_"

"FINE!" Vexon yelled back, purple in the face. "I don't need your _approval_. You can't stop me!_ Now **GET OUT OF THE WAY!**_"

Vexon reared back and punched Parker, knocking the man's glasses askew as he fell. Parker collapsed, falling unconscious to the floor. Vexon kicked him out of the way and went for Rob's cage. He kneeled down and RJ and Hammy leaped for him, but the doctor simply swatted them away. RJ flew across the room and landed in a heap on the floor in front of a stack of cages. Hammy smacked into the door and slid down it, then jumped back onto the floor and started to run forward again. Vexon, meanwhile, forced one hand inside Rob's cage and held down the struggling wolf, then with the other hand tested the needle, found it in perfect working order, then reached in with it again toward Rob.

"HAMMY! **_NO!_**"

The furry little squirrel had leaped forward, diving through the latch into the cage. The needle was inches from Rob — Hammy leaped in front of the wolf, spreading his arms protectively —

And RJ saw the needle enter Hammy's stomach.

"NO!" RJ shouted, and the world around him seemed to slow down to a soundless crawl — RJ was hardly aware of what he was doing — he was running across the floor — he was diving for the doctor — he yanked the needle out of Vexon's hands and out of Hammy's stomach — clear liquid sprayed everywhere — Vexon stumbled backward and suddenly his hands went to his face — Katrina and Marissa had leaped from their cage and onto his head, scratching him, poking him, going for his eyes and ears — the doctor struggled with them madly —

RJ grabbed Hammy's shoulders, and the squirrel's eyes rolled up into his head and he collapsed in RJ's arms. "Some of it," RJ gasped, "he only got some of it! Hammy! Speak to me!"

Hammy was still breathing. RJ grabbed the squirrel's wrist and felt for a pulse. He could feel it — Hammy's heart was still beating — but something was wrong — it was slowing with every breath. Missing beats. Shutting down.

"Hammy," RJ panted, "please — _don't_ —"

"RJ?" the squirrel murmured, and his eyelids opened halfway. Hammy's eyes were rolling erratically, his vision swimming. "Is that you?"

"Yes. Yes! Hammy, it's me. It's me!" RJ looked up. "An antidote!" he shouted hopelessly, "_An antidote!_ WE NEED AN ANTIDOTE!"

"I'm on it!" Rob shouted, and leaped out of his cage. The wolf ran quickly around the struggling Vexon and bolted through the door. RJ heard another alarm go off and hoped with all his might that Rob wouldn't get caught — but Rob was cleverer than that. He knew his way around the lab. He'd get the antidote. Right? Hammy's life depended on it!

"RJ ..." the raccoon heard, and he looked down again: Hammy had shut his eyes once more and his head was rolling from side to side.

"Hammy," RJ whispered. "Please. Hold on."


	10. A Few Surprises

Rob burst out of the doorway and bolted down the hallway for a second time in an hour. "_COME BACK HERE!_" came a voice from behind him, and the wolf chanced a look over his shoulder: Dr. Vexon was stumbling out of the doorway, still wrestling with the rats, but nonetheless in hot pursuit of Rob.

Rob gulped and turn around, continuing to run. He passed shocked humans and knew it was only a matter of time before they gave chase again — hopefully he could find the antidote room before then —

A small furry gray mass collided with his shoulder and Rob looked back to see Katrina riding on him. "Hello there," she said conversationally, like this was an everyday occurrence.

"Hi," Rob said, looking back behind him. "Where's your sister?"

"Oh, she'll be along in a moment," Katrina said, waving a paw airily. Rob heard a wild howl from behind him. "She stopped to sink her teeth into the doctor's ear."

Rob grinned. "I'm glad that you guys decided to come with us."

Katrina shrugged. "What's one more escape attempt?"

The pair raced on, Rob examining the signs along the hallway as they passed by in a blur. "None of this looks familiar," he said out loud. "Which way is the antidote room?"

"Hang a right up here," Katrina instructed, and Rob saw, approaching quickly, the three-way intersection that he had been down before. "We've been there twelve times; we know the way."

"How many times have they tested on you guys?" Rob asked, amazed, as he skidded along the hallway before managing to change direction.

"We've lost count," came another voice, and looking back again Rob saw that Marissa had joined them. She waved. "Oh, by the way," she added, almost as an afterthought, "I took a count before I jumped off the doctor, and we've got five humans behind us. Probably more by now."

"Great," Rob said, feeling a strange sense of deja vu.

"D'you suppose they'll think to look in the antidote room?" Katrina wondered aloud.

"Not if we can get there in time," Rob muttered, running even faster. Familiar signs flashed by, and he knew the room to be just ahead. "If we can just —"

Suddenly he skidded to a halt. There it was! The unmarked door. Rob leaped for the doorknob and turned it, but —

The door didn't move. "It's locked. They've locked it!" Marissa shouted, starting to grow panicky. "They must have figured that you'd come back!"

"Well then," Rob grunted, turning around, "there's more than one way around that."

"You're not _seriously_ —" Katrina started, then was forced to grab onto Rob's shoulders: The wolf had run backward and turned around again, and now was heading for the door at full speed. Rob jumped ... and crashed through the door's window, sending glass everywhere as he landed on the floor, stepping gingerly to avoid broken pieces.

"Start looking!" Rob shouted, ignoring the ever-present alarm, which was now at a shrieking pitch. Katrina and Marissa jumped off his shoulders immediately and scurried across the shelves, checking the labels of every bottle.

"Dicalcium phosphate ... no ... alternative nyquil solution ... no ... aluminum chlorohydrate? What _is_ all of this?" Marissa shouted in frustration.

"Keep looking!" Katrina shouted as she scaled another shelf. "Sodium lauryl sulfate ... isobutane base..."

"Here!" Rob suddenly shouted, beckoning the rats over. "I think I've found it! Look!"

The three crowded around the bottle, which had an abbreviated label: "ANTI. EUTH."

"That's _got_ to be it," Katrina said, and Rob grabbed the bottle gingerly in his teeth as the rats hopped back on his shoulders. "Let's go!"

Rob turned to jump back out the window — and found the door open and their way blocked by a large number of humans. Among them was Dr. Vexon, his face and head covered with an incredible number of scratches and bites. The scientist was seething, his teeth clenched, his hands curled into fists.

"Should've seen this coming too," Rob muttered.

* * *

"Ready..." Verne whispered, holding a hand up. "_NOW!_"

He lowered his hand, and John reared back and hurled Willow's water bottle right at the door. It crashed through the window and promptly slammed into the head of a passing human.

"What the hell?" shouted the scientist, looking at the door. He saw the hole in the window and grimaced. "Stupid animals..." The human headed toward the door, turned a key in the doorknob and opened it.

"GO!" Verne shouted as the door swung open. The crowd of animals surged forward toward the surprised human — and, more importantly, the doorway. Verne raced forward with the others and saw Jackson, Willow and Frank make it past the scientist — then suddenly the human shouted, "_Enough!_" and lunged for the rest of the animals.

"I _don't_ think so..." George the hedgehog yelled, jumping forward. He turned around, held his nose and blew — and the scientist's hands made contact with the hedgehog's sharp quills. The human reared back, howling, clutching at his wrists, and John zipped to stand behind the scientist's legs. The human stumbled backward, tripped on the cat and fell to the floor with a crash.

"Get his hands!" shouted John, and the porcupine kids jumped for the scientist, landing on his arms. "This looks like a good place to take a nap," said Quillo conversationally.

"Agreed," said Spike, hopping onto the human's right hand, while Bucky took the left.

The porcupines laid down on their backs — and just as George had done, their quills sunk into the human's hands. He howled, trying to get back up, but moving only caused the scientist to feel more pain in his wrists. He stopped trying to throw the porcupines off and tried to get to his feet — only to find that Frank the frog had hopped back into the room and was now using his tongue as a rope, wrapping it firmly around the human's legs.

"Come _on!_" Verne shouted, as the animals surged through the doorway. The toad hopped through, then the hamster, then a groundhog, then the white rat — more and more animals fled out into the hallway, stepping over the still-struggling human on their way to freedom. At last Verne, John, Frank and the kids were the only ones left in the room. Frank made to unwrap his tongue, but John said, "Wait."

Frank stopped, and John walked forward and sat on the human's legs. "I have something to do before we go."

He looked at Verne, and the turtle shivered. John gazed at him wordlessly for a minute, then turned his attention back to the human, who had stopped struggling and was staring at John murderously. The cat glared back at him, raised a paw and said, "_This_ is for Susie."

John bared his claws and brought his paw down, and Verne turned away, covering his eyes. There was a horrible scratching sound and the scientist howled, rattling Verne's eardrums. The turtle turned back to John, who had jumped off the human's now-bleeding legs and said calmly, "That ought to hold him for a few minutes." He jumped for the doorway and turned around. "Frank, kids, Verne — let's head out."

* * *

RJ jumped up and locked the door, to at least delay any humans that might think to come looking. Then he ran back to Hammy, trying not to look as panicked as he felt. The little squirrel was now laying on the floor, his body convulsing slightly, his breathing ragged and uneven.

"Hammy," RJ gasped again, "_please_ don't do this. Stay with us. Come on — you can do it —"

"I'm ... try ... ing..." the squirrel muttered softly as RJ lifted him up gently, propping the squirrel's body so that he was sitting upright. To weak to hold it up, Hammy let his head lean slightly on RJ's shoulder. "RJ..."

"It'll be okay, Hammy," RJ choked, trying to ignore the prickly feeling building up behind his eyes. "Don't worry."

Hammy fell silent again — and suddenly the convulsions racking his body grew more violent. His breathing came in short gasps. RJ frantically felt for the squirrel's pulse and found it to be beating wildly, strangely, erratically — and then suddenly Hammy's body went still. A soft sigh escaped his lips, and his tail went limp.

"Hammy? _Hammy?_" RJ shouted. "_**HAMMY!**_"

* * *

"It's straight ahead!" Willow shouted, "Come on!"

The crowd of animals raced down the hallway, Verne just managing to keep up. The turtle wondered vaguely why they hadn't yet encountered any humans — and just as the thought entered his head, they rounded a corner and found another scientist standing right in front of them, seething. There was a large bandage on his neck and he was wincing every time his head moved. But that apparently didn't matter to him now — his attention was focused on the thirty-three animals in front of him.

A walkie-talkie clasped to his belt crackled to life, and Verne heard the words, "This is a call to the entire department ... please head to the antidote room ... this is a call to the entire department ... please head to the antidote room ..." repeated over and over again. The scientist paid the voice no mind, and lunged madly for the critters. "You left one of my lab partners on the floor with shredded legs," he screamed at them. "He's only just managed to call me!" He suddenly grabbed the walkie-talkie from his belt, pressed a button on its side and muttered, "Yes, Manson. I've got them." He shut it off, tossed it over his shoulder and turned to the animals again. "Since I'm apparently the only one around, I'll just have to take care of you myself!"

He stepped forward and bent down — and suddenly Verne heard a crash and turned to see a white blur hurling out of the window marked DERMAL TOXICITY TRIAL. The blur latched onto the scientist, squeaking madly, and whipped around his face and head. The scientist yelled and tried to shake the blur loose, but to no avail — the white critter only clung more firmly to the human, still squeaking with rage.

Heather and Ozzie darted forward, each heading for one of the human's legs. Heather immediately sunk her teeth into the right leg, but Ozzie took some time to lather up a huge glob of saliva round his mouth, working it into a foam. Soon he had a nice white cloud on his cheeks, muttered to Verne, "Rabies. Gives a better effect," and sunk his teeth into the human's leg too.

The human struggled harder, attempting to shake the animals loose, but the crowd had seen what Heather and Ozzie had done and surged forward to join the battle. Animal after animal climbed up the human's legs, reaching higher and higher — and soon the weight was too much for the human and he fell backward. With nothing to break his fall, the human landed on his back, knocking the wind out of himself. A guttural gasp escaped his lips and his head fell backward, his eyes the size of saucers as he tried to take in air.

"That should do it," came the voice from the white blur, and the crowd of critters gradually stepped off and around the human. Ozzie and Heather were last to do so, removing their teeth from the human's legs. Ozzie wiped his mouth delicately, but Heather had remained where she was, a look of confusion on her face as she looked up at the white animal.

The critter turned around, and Ozzie's eyes widened. She was a possum, like him. Her eyes bored deep into his, her gaze unwavering.

"_Mom?_" Heather gasped.

* * *

"There's nothing for it," Rob whispered to the rats through the bottle in his teeth. The wolf began backing away slowly, moving back toward the shelves. The humans stepped into the room after him, and Dr. Vexon reached out wordlessly, aiming to grab the trio of animals.

Rob finished backing up — and kicked the shelf behind him, hard. One of the sidebeams began to fall out from the force and the shelf lunged forward, the bottles and vials trembling precariously. Dr. Vexon just had time to look up in horror (as Rob slipped out from under him) before the bottles fell, landing on the humans' heads and bursting, covering them with toxic chemicals and mixtures. The falling shelves knocked into another set, setting off a chain reaction: more bottles tilted and fell, landing on the panicked humans as they bumped into each other, trying to evade the falling chemicals. Glasses burst, vials shattered and toxins overflowed, creating an incredible fireworks display in the now-destroyed antidote room.

And it wasn't over yet: As the humans stumbled out, half-blinded, covered with liquids of every color and texture, they found Rob waiting for them, the "ANTI-EUTH" bottle clutched firmly in his jaws. Sitting on the wolf's shoulders were the rats: Marissa was clutching a huge blue box of matches, and Katrina was holding a single match. A single, _lit_ match.

With a smirk, she tossed it into the antidote room, and the trio bolted.

_**KA-BOOM!**_

A huge explosion filled the lab, shaking the building as Rob and the rats ran to evade the billowing cloud of fire now chasing them. The windows of various doors lining the hall shattered, tables and the equipment stacked on them tilted and fell, and the floor beneath them rumbled with the force of the destruction, Rob just managing to stay balanced as he ran back down the way he had come. Katrina reached out among the equipment flying all around them and grabbed a single, empty needle, still in its packaging.

"What's that for?" Marissa yelled over the incredible noise filling the lab as Rob rounded the corner, skittering on the floor again in the process.

"Hammy!" Katrina shouted back as she tore the plastic wrap off of the little needle. She tested it quickly, just as Vexon had done, and found it to be working.

"Here we are!" said Rob in a muffled voice, as he reached the door marked VIOLENT ANIMALS: HOLDING PEN. He went for the doorknob, but it too didn't move. "RJ probably locked it to keep the humans out!" Marissa cried.

"Oh, no, not _again_ —" Katrina yelled as Rob backed up, turned around and jumped, crashing through the door's glass once more. Carefully landing to avoid the still-unconscious Dr. Parker, Rob ran to where RJ and Hammy were sitting.

RJ was holding the limp squirrel by his shoulders. "Please, Hammy," he gasped, "no —"

"We've got the antidote!" Marissa shouted, as she and Katrina jumped off of Rob's shoulders. Carefully the wolf set the beaker down, and Katrina popped the lid and stuck the needle in, drawing the handle out to fill it. The liquid rushed inside and soon filled up the needle. Katrina handed it to RJ. "Here —"

Frantically, RJ grabbed the needle. "I can't believe I'm about to do this ..." RJ positioned the needle gingerly near Hammy's shoulder, turned away and shut his eyes, and pressed the handle down. RJ felt the liquid flow out into Hammy's bloodstream, and the raccoon exhaled sharply, not realizing he'd been holding his breath.

At last the needle was empty. Carefully RJ removed it from Hammy's shoulder, and tossed it aside. He, Rob, Katrina and Marissa looked down at the squirrel with hope.

Hammy still didn't move.

Didn't breathe.

RJ felt Hammy's wrist desperately for a pulse — and couldn't find one.

Marissa rubbed her paws together anxiously. "Is he —"

"No," RJ said desperately. "He can't be. Hammy. Hammy, wake up! You've got the antidote — you'll be all right — please —"

He gently shook the limp squirrel. It was getting harder and harder for RJ to ignore the prickly feeling building up in his eyes. Hammy wouldn't die. He couldn't. He was RJ's best friend! He had been the first to accept RJ into the family — the first to call him his buddy — he _couldn't_ die —

"Hammy," RJ sobbed, as he at last gave in to the tears, "please wake up."

"Maybe," came a soft but familiar voice, "this will help."

RJ turned his head toward the voice — and saw that the door had been swung open again. And standing in front of it was —

Was —


	11. Some Answers

Was an incredible assortment of odd critters.

And heading the group was the rest of RJ's family. Verne, Stella, the porcupine kids ... everyone was there. Ozzie and Heather were in the lead — and they weren't alone. There was a third possum with them. RJ wondered vaguely what was going on ... and then Stella stepped forward.

She was holding a clear, plastic bag. And inside it was a bunch of cookies. Hammy's cookies. Stella reached in, took one out and tossed it wordlessly to RJ — who caught it in surprise.

The cookie was fresh. RJ breathed in its scent for a minute before turning back to the limp squirrel behind him. "I really hope this works," RJ muttered to himself, then bent down and slowly waved the cookie under Hammy's nose.

Nothing happened.

"Please, Hammy," RJ said quietly.

Then —

Hammy's nose twitched. His ears swiveled gently. His chest began to rise and fall, and his hands and feet moved ... and suddenly he sat up. The little red squirrel reached up and rubbed his eyes, then opened them —and smiled.

"I _like_ the cookie!"

Hammy jumped forward and the cookie in RJ's hand disappeared. He licked his lips and fingers, satisfied, and looked up at RJ with a grin, his ears twitching.

"Hammy!" RJ shouted, relieved, and threw his arms around the squirrel in a tight hug. "Hamsquad," RJ whispered, "don't you _ever_ scare me like that again."

"Don't worry," Hammy giggled, hugging RJ just as tightly. "I will."

"I'm just glad you're okay," RJ murmured. They stayed in the hug for a minute, as RJ scratched Hammy's neck and ears. The squirrel sighed contentedly, then asked quietly, "Uh, RJ?"

"Yeah?"

"How are we going to get out of here?"

RJ blinked. He had forgotten for a minute that they still needed to escape. He was spared having to answer, though, when Verne strode forward. "If anyone can figure out the answer to that question," he said firmly, "it's RJ." The turtle stopped in front of RJ and Hammy, then reached behind him and pulled something off of his shoulder, holding it out toward the raccoon. "I believe this is yours."

RJ's eyes widened, and Hammy broke the hug to turn around and look at Verne. "Hey," he chirped, "he's got RJ's bag!"

"What — where did you get it?" RJ asked in wonderment, as Verne handed it to him.

"There's a room right across from here. We popped into it for a sec," Stella explained casually, as she gestured toward the doorway. "It's labeled 'Confiscated Items'. And this was in there too." She held out the bag of cookies toward Hammy, grinning.

"My cookies!" said Hammy with glee, and he zoomed toward the bag and hugged it, burying his face in the plastic wrap. "Oh my lovely cookies," he cooed. "Did you miss me?"

RJ rolled his eyes and turned back to the turtle. "Verne — what is all of this?" he finally said, gesturing to all of the animals in the doorway.

"It is a rescue mission!" said Tiger from the back of the crowd, waving a paw. "The human tyrants shall be brought down!"

"You — you guys came all this way just to rescue us?" RJ asked quietly, amazed.

Verne nodded, then smiled. "Hey — it's what families do."

"Wow," RJ muttered, as he picked up his bag and slung it over his shoulder. He looked back at Verne, and suddenly smiled himself. "Verne — thanks."

"No problem," Verne said, as the new possum walked up next to him. "We should get out of here," she said, sounding somewhat worried. "There's no telling when a human will arrive."

"Lilly, honey, wait." Ozzie had run after the female possum and now took her paws into his. "Sweetheart, I — I thought — well, that — you had left me," he murmured uncomfortably, looking down.

Lilly gently cupped a paw under Ozzie's chin, and he looked up into her eyes. "Ozzie, you know I would never leave you." She placed her hand on Ozzie's cheek, and beckoned Heather over. "Not when there was a family to take care of."

With that, the three possums shared a group hug, although Heather broke it somewhat quickly. She shuffled awkwardly, but finally said, "I just — well — I'm, like, really glad you're back, Mom."

"I am as well," Lilly smiled. "I'm just sorry it's taken so long." Her face darkened slightly, and she growled, "But the _humans_ obviously had _other_ ideas..."

"Frankly, my dear," Ozzie said, striking a pose as Lilly fell into his arms, "I don't give a darn."

"Oh, boy. Here it comes," Heather muttered, as she turned away and covered her ears to mask the sounds of kissing that came from behind her. She saw Rob and brightened. "Hey, we saw you just before you crashed through the window there. What's your story?"

"Hmm?" Rob said, distracted. "Oh. Well, it's kind of a long one..."

"Believe me," RJ said, as he walked over to stand next to Heather, "I would love to hear it." He looked at Rob intently. "You used to be a human?"

"A teenager. Yes," Rob growled. "At least before these humans got to me —"

"Come on, guys," a voice interrupted, "we really need to get going." RJ turned and saw Snowy pacing around the room, in front of the crowd of animals. They all had been talking quietly, but fell silent as Snowy addressed them now: "Lilly's right. Who knows when a human will get here? We're lucky enough as it —"

"Snowy?" Rob said abruptly. An odd expression was on his face as he looked at the cat.

"Yes, that's my name," Snowy said impatiently, turning toward him. "What —" She stopped short when she saw the wolf. She looked closely at him, gazing into his eyes — and suddenly gasped, "Rob?"

"I — uh — didn't know you could talk," Rob said as Snowy strode toward him.

"_I_ didn't know you could turn into a wolf," Snowy countered, stopping in front of him. She looked at him closely. "Geez, Rob, what have these humans done to you?"

"What — how did — look, would someone _please_ tell me what is going on?" cried a frustrated Verne. He reached up and massaged his temples. "As if I didn't have enough headaches already..."

"Snowy's — erm —" Rob hesitated as he turned toward Verne. "Well, she's — my cat. And—"

"Excuse me?" Snowy snorted, interrupting him. "Nobody _owns_ me. I'm not _your_ cat and you guys are lucky enough that I stay with you as it is. In fact, it's more like _I_ own _you_."

"I'm sure," Rob smiled. "I guess I didn't exactly expect to see you here, Snowy, but —"

"Wait. Wait a minute," RJ said suddenly, as he realized something. "Rob, you — I know you. You were that human Hammy and I heard. When we broke into that house? Hammy wanted your cookies —"

"So _that's_ what happened to them," Rob replied, nodding at the bag Hammy was holding. "I wondered." He smiled again. "I can't say I blame you. Mom's cookies really are good."

"They're the best," Hammy said, hugging the bag tightly. "No question."

"So, okay, let me get this straight," RJ said, as he clasped his paws behind his back and paced round the room. "We break into your house. Snowy distracts you but then gets mad at us." Rob shot Snowy a disapproving glare, but RJ went on: "Then we escape and Snowy flies into the pool. But how do we get from that to the lab van?"

"When I dragged Snowy out of the pool, she took off," Rob explained, as Snowy rolled her eyes. "I figured she was racing after some — well, _animal_ —" he looked apologetic, but went on. "So I woke up my parents, and they said to call an exterminator then went back to sleep. So I did, and it was those scientists who came, because they were the only ones working so late. They came to the door and said to open it, because they had some questions 'about the vermin' — and they dragged me off."

Rob's gaze on RJ was unwavering. "And then they came for you."

RJ let out a low whistle. "So you felt that it was your fault that we got captured, and that's the thing you were feeling guilty about."

"Well, yeah," Rob said, lowering his eyes. "I admit it sounds kind of silly when you put it that way."

"Hey, Rob, no worries," RJ smiled. "I'd say you've more than redeemed yourself." RJ walked over to the wolf and placed a paw on his shoulder. "Thanks for all the help."

Rob grinned, but it was cut short by a snort from John. "That's all very well and good," he said, jumping out of the crowd of animals, "but we're not out of here yet." He lowered his voice and muttered, almost to himself, "If only Susie were coming with us."

"Who's she?" asked Hammy, not realizing the danger in asking such a question.

John looked up at Hammy, and there was a fierce glare on his face. Hammy shrank back, but John's expression softened, and he said quietly, "My wife."

He turned back to the crowd of animals, addressing everyone. "And I'm not sorry for what I did to that scientist!" he burst out, then recovered. He was silent for a minute, then continued: "I had been in here for three years, and had known Susie for two. She'd been caught about the same time as me but we didn't see each other much. The scientists used to think she was dangerous." He smiled as he remembered, a faraway gaze in his eyes. "I don't fault them for that. She was pretty wild. In fact, she and I almost escaped a couple of times. And we always tried to do it together.

"She was — I don't know. She kept me sane. She was the one who always kept me going. We shared a cage, for a while, and she was always there to talk. The two of us got really close because of that. Any time one of us got tested on, the other was there to offer support ... to help.

"But —" John's voice cracked and he looked down again. "One day, the — the humans went too far. That doctor, that — _barbarian_ that we had to get past, he — he came into our room with a gas mask and a needle. He went for Susie, to take her out of her cage. She resisted, obviously, and I tried to help her, but — I don't know. It was like the human didn't even bother with us. Just poked both of us with the needle, then locked me back in the cage. He took Susie away and walked out." John looked up again, his eyes shiny. "That was the last time I saw her alive."

There was utter silence in the little room. Hammy was shivering: his paws were tight against his chest as he clutched the bag of cookies like a security blanket. RJ wrapped an arm around the squirrel, comforting him, but it was hard — for the raccoon was shivering too.

"Anyway," John said, obviously trying to look braver than he felt, "that's why we need to leave as soon as we can. We've wasted enough time as it is."

"I agree," Verne said, turning around. "Well, RJ? Have you got a plan?"

"What?" RJ muttered, still focused on John's story. "Oh." He looked up and saw the entire group of animals staring at him. RJ blinked, realizing they saw him as their leader. That was somewhat of a problem, because he had no idea how to get out of here. "Um — not yet."

"Why bother with a plan?" asked Katrina from the back of the crowd. "We've had dozens of plans. And how many of them have worked? Zero."

"But this time it's _all_ of us," said George the hedgehog, turning to Katrina. "It's not just _some_ people; John's convinced _everyone_ to escape this time. Strength in numbers and all that. Surely something should work?"

"I do not know," said Tiger. "I am not exactly familiar with this place."

"And George, honey," Willow reminded him, "we don't have _everyone_, remember? Berne didn't come."

"Oh, yeah," Jackson snorted. "That miserable little lizard? Pah. If you ask me, we're better off without him. He's always so pessimistic and critical. D'you know, I think there'z something suspicious about him. He just rubs me the wrong way."

"Well, then," came a voice, "I guess you were right about that."

The entire crowd of critters spun around. Framed in the doorway was a large shadow — a shadow that was smoking slightly and smelling of charcoal and burnt hair. Heavy breathing came from it as it stepped into the light.

It was Vexon — and he wasn't alone. The doctor was holding one hand out in front of him. And sitting in his palm, grinning evilly, was Berne.


	12. A Way Out?

"_Berne!_" John shouted in rage, pushing forward to face the lizard. "I can't _believe_ you!"

"It wouldn't be the first time," the lizard snapped back as Vexon continued walking. "You didn't believe me when I said you should stay, did you?"

"I _trusted_ you!" John snarled. His paws twitched, claws sliding out and clicking on the floor. "_Willow_ trusted you! We _all_ trusted you — and _this_ is how you repay us? You — you miserable little —"

Snowy turned pale as John finished his sentence. "That's ... almost the worst insult he could have come up with."

"Yeah, well," Jackson snorted, jerking his head toward Berne, "this little idiot deserves more than just insults."

"Berne, don't do this," Willow said, apparently trying to sound soothing — but her voice still shook with anger. "Why should you side with the humans? You know how they'll treat you. Come on —"

"Oh, no, I'm quite happy on the humans' side, thank you very much," said Berne smoothly, as Vexon halted in front of the crowd of animals. "We do trades, you see. I tell them what you all are up to — well, gesture to them, more like, since they can't understand animals — and they give me treats in return ... like bugs, small little reptiles ..." His eyes halted on the bluebird, and he grinned evilly again. "...bird eggs..."

"You — you —" Rendered speechless by anger, John leaped forward, intent on destroying the little creature in Vexon's palm. The doctor, however, raised his other hand and slapped the cat away, so that John flew off to the side and crashed into a pile of cages, toppling them. They bounced and rolled on the floor behind Vexon, but the scientist gave no notice.

"You see," continued Berne triumphantly, his hands on his hips, "when dear Vexon here saw the antidote room explode, he escaped the fire and ran straight to the holding pen, hoping I could tell him something about the chaos going on around here. And he promised that if I led him to you guys, he'd give me a rare treat. Something delicious." Grinning, Berne cast his eyes around the room, and they landed on Frank. "A frog."

"You _monster!_" shouted RJ, his paws clenched in rage.

"Yes, that's what I am," Berne retorted. "A gila monster."

"No _wonder_ we couldn't escape all these years!" Katrina said angrily. "We've had a traitor in our midst the entire time!"

"A traitor who apparently likes to _eat_ the people he pretend are his friends..." said Marissa, also trying to sound tough, though her paws shook with fear.

"Hey, gila monsters eat frogs," Berne replied, holding his hands up. "Don't blame me."

"Oh, we'll do more than just blame you," Stella sneered, paws also clenched. "Trust me."

"Sorry," Berne said, almost sounding sympathetic. "I'm afraid Vexon has other ideas."

And indeed: the doctor raised his hand and set Berne on top of another stack of cages. His hands now free, Vexon rubbed them together as he looked down at all the animals. The corner of his eye twitched as he scrutinized each of them.

"Where to start. Where to start," he muttered to himself — then he saw Marissa and Katrina, and he perked up. "Well, since you helped to destroy the antidote room, _and_ several million dollars of illegal chemicals — I guess _you'll be first!_"

He stretched out a hand and lunged for Marissa, but before he could get there John leaped from the stack of the cages, howling fiercely, and latched onto Vexon's head. The doctor yelled and raised his hands to his face, but John held firm as Vexon struggled to try and get him off. The pair swayed round the room until Vexon finally lost balance and fell. John leaped off his head as the doctor crashed to the floor, his fingers landing inches from Marissa. She regarded them, looking somewhat puzzled. "Those look interesting."

"Enough!" Vexon shouted, and pushed up from the floor to turn around and face Frank, who had again wrapped his tongue around the doctor's legs. Vexon stretched out his arm toward him. Frank jumped ... and landed on top of a stack of cages.

The same stack, unfortunately, that Berne was on.

The evil lizard grinned. "Hello, lunch."

"Hello," responded another voice, and Berne twisted around, suddenly horrorstruck. Snowy had jumped after Frank and landed behind the gila monster. Before Berne had a chance to react, Snowy was upon him, scooping him up in her mouth and swallowing quickly. The cat smacked her lips and licked her paws. "Eh. Too bitter for my taste."

"Snowy, what have you done?" Willow asked from the floor fearfully.

"Just got rid of something rotten," the cat shrugged, as Frank hopped on her back and the pair jumped back down to the floor. "That little monster won't be bothering us any more."

"Unfortunately," said RJ, joining her, "we've got a bigger monster to worry about." Vexon was now wrestling with George; the hedgehog had leaped on him, squealing madly, and burrowed down into the leg of the doctor's pants. Vexon was now performing a wild dance round the room as he tried to shake the hedgehog out. RJ saw George slide down onto Vexon's ankle, still clinging firmly. "Go! _Go!_" he yelled, as the doctor shook him around madly.

"Come on!" RJ shouted, gesturing to the rest of the animals, and they followed him as he ran for the door. Pushing it open farther to allow for the huge crowd of critters to surge through it, RJ spared one last look at Vexon. He had gotten rid of George and was now staring down at RJ murderously.

RJ looked back up at Vexon as he reached into his trusty blue bag. A fierce glare was on RJ's face. "This," the raccoon growled, "is for almost killing my best friend."

With that, RJ yanked the boomerang out and flung it forward, straight for Vexon's head. The boomerang had crashed into the scientist before he even had a chance to react. Vexon stumbled woozily, tripped on a fallen cage and fell backward. The boomerang headed back for RJ and he caught it, then slammed the door, hearing a muffled crash come from behind it as Vexon landed.

"Wow," Hammy said from beside him, "how'd you think to do that?"

"Snowy gave me some ideas," RJ smiled, before turning to join the crowd of animals that now headed down the lab hallway. "That should keep him out for a while."

They ran. RJ and Verne ended up in the lead as the entire group of critters surged forward, so fast that the hallway around them became a blur. Nimbly darting to avoid fallen equipment and chemicals, the crowd animals turned a corner and rushed back to the antidote room.

"Why — are we going — _there_?" Verne gasped, clutching his side as he struggled to keep up with RJ. The turtle pointed to the smoldering wreckage spilling from the antidote room, which was getting closer by the second, as the crowd surged forward. "What use — is _that_ going to be — to us?"

"I've got a hunch," RJ muttered, and skidded to a halt. All the animals behind him hastened to do the same but couldn't quite manage it, and caused a domino effect as critter after critter plowed into the one in front of him. RJ was no exception: Hammy slammed into his side and he fell forward, landing on the cold floor, narrowly missing a piece of wreckage. Grumbling, RJ picked himself up and looked at the ceiling above them. He pointed: "There."

All of the animals looked up, and saw that the explosion from the antidote room had blown a large hole in the ceiling of the lab. It was a long way up, but RJ could plainly see the night sky through the gap. The stars had started to disappear: Sunrise was coming.

"How are we going to get up _there_?" came Quillo's voice, sounding doubtful.

As an answer, RJ reached into his bag again and pulled out the fishing line. He looked back up at the hole, making some minor calculations, then reared back and flung the lure toward the hole. The line shot forward, spiraling out of RJ's hand, and caught on the edge of the hole firmly. RJ tugged at the lure a couple of times, testing it, then turned back to the crowd and gestured wordlessly toward the line, grinning.

The animals cheered, and Spike darted forward eagerly. "Me first! Me first!"

The little porcupine jumped onto the line and climbed, shooting upward with an astonishing speed. His siblings hastened to follow, and soon all three were on the roof and looking down through the hole. "Come on!" they said, their voices sounding distant. "It works!"

"After you, Verne," RJ said, stepping backward to allow the turtle room. Verne tugged on the string worriedly for a moment, then gritted his teeth and jumped. "Whoa!" he shouted, flailing wildly: he had almost missed the line. RJ sighed, but Verne struggled back on, regaining his balance, and shouted down, "I'm okay. I'm okay."

"Well, then," said George the hedgehog, also jumping up onto the line, "you won't mind if you get company, will you?"

One by one each of the animals stepped forward and scaled the line, shimmying upward toward the roof. RJ tried to keep track as each one filed past: Four — eight — eleven — seventeen — twenty-one? Twenty-two? Then he lost count. Giving up, RJ concentrated simply on making sure each animal made it to the top, and soon got a crick in his neck from looking up. There were a few difficulties — it wasn't as simple for the larger animals like Snowy and John, and Rob almost didn't fit through the hole. But in the end, all of them managed it, and RJ brought his gaze back to ground level, rubbing the back of his neck.

"That's thirty-four," Willow said conversationally as she grabbed onto the line; fortunately, she hadn't lost count like RJ had. "Five of us left."

"That's you, me, Jackson, Stella, and Tiger," RJ muttered, glancing at the critters still in front of him. "Better hurry it up, guys."

Jackson obliged, taking the line after Willow and climbing up after her. Tiger, however, wasn't as quick to follow: He was shuffling nervously on the ground, and seemed to be shivering. RJ waited, but Tiger didn't take the line.

Stella was the first to figure it out: Sighing exasperatedly, she turned to Tiger. "Oh, come on. You can't tell me you're afraid of heights."

"Vell, I _am!_" Tiger burst out. "I had a very bad experience as a kitten!"

"Um, Tiger, you're a cat," called Hammy from up above (he had scaled the line in less than a second). "You do always land on your feet, ya know."

"That is not true," Tiger retorted. "I did not land on my feet ven I vos a kitten. I vos scaling a gutter und I slipped und I fell on my back und it hurt a lot." He stopped and took a deep breath. "I have been fearful of climbing ever since."

"Tiger, look," said RJ, with some difficulty; his patience was wearing thin. "Right now, it's not about your fears, or anyone else's. It's about _overcoming_ them." RJ paused, not sure what kind of TV program he had picked that up from, but continued: "It's true. This whole place is designed to intimidate animals. To _scare_ them, even. But it won't do that, if we don't _let_ ourselves be scared." RJ looked up at the ceiling, at all the animals looking down through the hole. "Come on, you can't pretend John wasn't nervous about this escape attempt. And Verne, and Ozzie, and all of the family. They were scared to death of this place, but came in anyway."

"Because that's what families do," said Verne simply from above him, while the other animals nodded in agreement.

"And Marissa and Katrina. They were nervous about trying to escape again too, but they did it anyway." He paused again, Tiger watching him intently. "All of us were scared. Heck, I still am, because we're not out of here yet. But we're still escaping. We're still working to get out. And that's its own kind of bravery."

Tiger was silent for a minute, still shuffling from foot to foot. "You are right, RJ," he said quietly. Suddenly he shut his eyes tight, and leaped for the line. RJ, surprised, pulled it forward and Tiger grabbed on, scaling it, keeping his eyes shut. He climbed up higher and higher and finally squeezed through the hole. Laughing and applauding, the gang of critters pulled Tiger onto the roof. Tiger smiled when he opened his eyes. "I made it!"

"Yes you did, Tiger," said Stella, also laughing, "and I'm coming with you!" She grabbed onto the line and looked at RJ. "Clever escape plan."

RJ shrugged. "I only just came up with it."

Stella started to climb, and RJ slung his bag back over his shoulder and turned the crank on the fishing line. The line began to retract, pulling RJ upward, and the raccoon looked up to see the hole getting closer and closer. His heart lifted: He was really going to make it! Finally he could get out of here. Finally they could get back home. Finally they could —

The line was suddenly yanked downward, and the string tightened dangerously. Stella almost fell off, but she flailed wildly and tightened her grip on the string, hugging it fiercely. RJ, meanwhile, tried to pull the crank again, but it remained firm, almost bending.

RJ looked down. One of the humans from the lab had grabbed onto his tail, laughing insanely. RJ saw the bandage around the human's neck and knew that this was Dr. Lorgan, the other scientist who had captured him. The doctor laughed again, his eye twitching, and pulled RJ downward. The string tightened even more but still held firm.

"You can't beat me, you little bastard," breathed the doctor, as his eyes leveled with RJ's. The raccoon could see the madness in them and knew that the doctor had come unhinged. "I'm still going to get you!" Lorgan giggled, his voice high and unnatural. "I'm going to get all of you! First we'll start with that little rat that kept scratching me. Then that cat. Then the other cat. And then," the doctor said in that deranged voice of his, as his eyes narrowed, "I'll go for _you_."

"Stella!" RJ shouted, flailing wildly in the doctor's grasp. "Now!"

"I'm on it!" Stella shouted, spinning around on the string and twitching her tail. "Duck!"

BLAM.

A cloud of green stench enveloped RJ and the doctor. The raccoon held his breath and shut his eyes, and heard Lorgan reel backward, coughing and choking. An unnatural cry escaped Lorgan's lips as he fought for air. His hand let go of the line as he clutched for his throat, and in that second RJ felt for the crank and spun it, traveling up the line as Stella climbed through the hole.

Only then did RJ open his eyes: Grabbing onto the fishing line with one hand, he pulled himself up onto the lab roof with the other, coughing. RJ took in huge gulps of the fresh night air and panted. "I — can never — get used to that," he gasped, as he put the fishing line back in his bag.

"I can," Tiger purred, wrapping a paw around his lover's shoulders. "Excellent work, Stella. You vere fan_tas_tic." Stella blushed.

"All right then," RJ said, cracking his knuckles. "What now?"

"That," said John simply, pointing.

RJ looked. Framed against the sunrise, parked on a special pad on the roof, were two large, black helicopters.


	13. Chopper Chase

With a roar, one of the helicopters took to the sky, its blades spinning lethally. Its flight was not a smooth one: it lurched alarmingly for a minute, first one way, then the other, as it flew upward. After a few moments it seemed to steady itself, but continued to tilt and whirl erratically.

"I thought you said you knew how to fly this thing," groaned Verne, wincing. He had fallen to the floor when the helicopter had tilted, and was now rubbing the bruise that had appeared on his forehead.

"I said I'd _read_ about it," replied RJ, as he steered the joystick gingerly, trying to stay on course and concentrating only on the sky before them.

"_**Freedom**!_" came Ozzie's yell. RJ heard Lilly sigh exasperatedly, saying, "You got that from _Braveheart_, didn't you, honey?"

The helicopter lurched toward the left again; RJ yanked the joystick to the right and managed to level out. The lab was a few yards below them, but still too close for comfort. RJ pulled the joystick upward, trying to go higher.

"So this thing can take us back to the log?" asked Hammy nervously, as he nibbled his paws.

"If you fly it right," muttered John. He and the rest of the animals were spread out across the chopper's interior; despite the size of the helicopter, the group of thirty-nine critters had proved a tight fit. They seemed to bump into each other every time the helicopter tilted even slightly; Snowy, in particular, kept crashing into John, but she didn't seem to mind.

"Yes, but — what if someone pursues us in that other one?" asked Willow nervously from the dashboard. She was pointing down to the other helicopter on the roof, which so far had remained stationary.

"Don't worry, sugar," RJ smiled, "I did something in there to throw them off." He made a slight turn with the joystick; the chopper tilted to the right and created a domino effect with all the animals as they slammed into each other. Verne rolled his eyes.

* * *

Cursing violently, Vexon had burst onto the roof and jumped into the other helicopter in pursuit, only to find that the joystick used to steer it had been broken off. The doctor searched in vain for the stick, but could not locate it; finally he gave up, yanked his walkie-talkie out of his belt and pressed the call button. 

"I want all reinforcements out here now. Our entire operation runs the risk of being discovered. Code red. This is not a drill. _Get out here, dammit!_"

He shut the walkie-talkie off without bothering to wait for a reply, then suddenly noticed something. He looked from the walkie-talkie, to the empty valve where the joystick would be, then back to the walkie-talkie, then back to the hole ... and a sinister grin spread across his face.

He yanked the walkie-talkie's antenna off; it crackled and fizzled with dying electricity. Vexon then jammed the antenna into the hole where the joystick would be, at the same time starting the helicopter's engine. He waited, then tested his new joystick ... and the chopper lurched forward. He grinned evilly again and looked up into the sky, where the other helicopter spiraled away from the lab.

"I don't think so..."

* * *

RJ held up the other joystick. The bottom was torn and mangled; wires dangled from its interior. "He's going to have a hard time steering it without this, isn't he?" 

He smirked and tossed it aside, then turned back to his own joystick. Higher and higher the critters' helicopter climbed, away from the ground, away from the lab, away from everything — and into the clouds that were tinged with pink and gold. RJ yanked the joystick upward and the chopper burst through one of these clouds, into the dazzling sunlight — and for one moment the entire gang of critters had an uninterrupted, peaceful view of the sunrise.

A golden light rose up from the horizon, a light that kept getting brighter and brighter as it covered more and more of the sky. The sun came into view amongst all the other colors within the clouds, its beams tinting the horizon with an intense brightness. RJ had to admit, it was a beautiful sight ... and suddenly the helicopter tilted forward, lunging towards the ground. Panicking, RJ yanked the joystick up again, but he hadn't caused the tilt: a bullet had slammed into the back of the chopper, burying itself in the metal siding.

Abandoning the joystick for a moment (Verne leaped forward and took over), RJ jumped onto the helicopter's dashboard, pulling a large pair of binoculars out of his bag. He quickly scanned the ground — and what he saw turned his stomach over. Surrounding the lab building was the entire staff of scientists, and in their hands they held large guns — which were currently aimed at the helicopter. As RJ watched, they let loose another hail of bullets, which slammed into the helicopter's windshield, making the animals inside cry out.

"_Shoot!_" RJ gasped, stuffing the binoculars back in his bag. Luckily, the windshield was obviously designed for such hits; not one bullet had made it inside. Yet. RJ ducked instinctively as another dozen buried themselves in the glass, which was now bent and cracked.

Verne yanked the joystick up farther, trying to steer the helicopter away from the chaos below. Explosions peppered the blood-red sky surrounding them, as human after human fired at the chopper. Bullets slammed into the back, the front, the windows, the doors — and through the walls remained firm, RJ knew it was only a matter of time before one of them gave way. He jumped for the joystick again, and yanked it sharply to the left, but they were in for another nasty shock: As RJ turned the helicopter around, he saw another one right in front of them. Inside it was Vexon, and he was clutching one of the guns in his hands. His lab coat was shredded and smoking, his hair was wild and his eyes were twitching, yet he wore a satisfied smirk on his face.

The scientist pushed down on his makeshift joystick, and his helicopter zoomed forward. The two choppers were headed for a collision course. RJ just had enough time to yank the joystick to the right, and the helicopter tilted dangerously; Vexon, however, did not stop, and he slammed into the door of the animals' chopper. With a sharp scrape and a clang the door tore off and fell through the sky to the lab below. Vexon, meanwhile, sailed right past the animals' chopper and turned his around, preparing to try again.

A fierce wind billowed through the helicopter. RJ's eyes watered against it as he suddenly found himself airborne; the wind was tossing the animals about, sending them in every direction. Verne was the only one who managed not to fly through the air, as he had grabbed onto the joystick. This proved to be a mistake, however; the wind suddenly gave Verne a sharp push and he inadvertently yanked the joystick to the left. The chopper lurched again, almost turning on its side, and before anyone had any time to react, RJ tumbled and fell out of the helicopter.

"_RJ!_" Hammy screamed after him, as the raccoon plummeted toward the lab. The world rushed around RJ in a blur, the wind whistling in his ears. In a panic, RJ yanked his bag off his shoulder once more and rustled through it — and suddenly he yelled in agony. A bullet had grazed his shoulder. RJ clutched at his arm as a fiery pain spread through it; he felt his paw dampen and removed it to see dark red blood running onto his hand and down his arm.

Trying to block out the pain, RJ continued digging through his bag until at last he found the fishing line again. He took careful aim, knowing that there would be no time for a second shot — and he cast the line out once more. Up, up, up it went, through the hail of bullets and explosions and chaos surrounding it, up through the clouds and sky — and RJ saw it latch onto the landing gear of the animals' helicopter.

"**_YES!_**"

RJ turned the crank with lightning speed, and suddenly his fall downward ceased and he shot up in the other direction. Nearer and nearer he went toward the animals' chopper, the line getting shorter and shorter. Vexon, however, had seen him; and instead of going for the helicopter, the crazed doctor now turned his focus on RJ, steering his chopper toward the raccoon.

RJ's eyes widened as he saw the scientist coming. Thinking fast, he stopped turning the crank and hung there for a minute, waiting. It worked: Vexon's chopper sailed over him, but as it did so, it brought with it a fierce wind — and RJ was blown upward toward the other helicopter, his fishing line trailing after him, until finally he landed right on the windshield with a loud SMACK, startling the animals inside.

"RJ!" came Hammy's relieved yell. The squirrel pressed his face on the other side of the glass, so that he and RJ were practically nose to nose. Suddenly his eyes widened and he gasped. It took RJ a minute to realize why: the raccoon's arm was bleeding onto the windshield. RJ peeled his face off the glass and slid downward, coming to rest on the helicopter's nose. RJ hastened to put a paw over his still-bleeding right shoulder, but Hammy's nerves were not calmed.

Clenching his teeth in an effort to minimize the pain in his arm, RJ considered his options. He needed to get inside the chopper, obviously. But how? Should he jump off again and use the fishing line to swing around to the doorway? Or should he —

Something slammed into the back of the helicopter again and it tilted downward; RJ grabbed onto a windshield wiper as the nose of the chopper dove toward the ground. His fishing line fell with him, but suddenly Vexon's chopper emerged from behind them and it sliced the line in half. RJ rolled his eyes and let go of the line, letting it fall to earth.

The nose of the chopper dipped lower and lower, despite Verne's efforts to pull the joystick up, and RJ hung on tightly. Vexon's continued to ram his helicopter into the animals' as they fell, scraping and bumping against them. The helicopters were almost vertical as they fell downward, right toward the squadron of scientists. Seeing it coming, the doctors turned their guns on the animals' chopper and blasted it; RJ covered his head and ducked as another onslaught of bullets rained onto the helicopter's windshield.

At last Verne succeeded in pulling the joystick. The helicopter swerved upward again, mere feet from the ground, and soared toward the sky, unfazed by the hundreds of bullets that were now buried in its body. Vexon's chopper, however, wasn't as lucky: it had taken the most of the bullets and was now chipped, dented, and wrecked beyond belief, swaying erratically in the wind. RJ raised his head gingerly, amazed that he had survived, and saw with a jolt that there was a scrape in Vexon's helicopter, mere inches from where the gas tank was nestled. If a bullet hit that —

And, just then, one did.

The metal crumpled inward; RJ saw a flash of sparks and he immediately turned to the animals inside and yelled through the glass, "**_DUCK!_**"

Vexon's chopper exploded in a blur of black and orange; fiery wreckage spiraled out through the sky in molten, twisted tangles and RJ's fur ruffled from the force as he dodged to avoid debris that clanged against the windshield. Smoke billowed into the helicopter, making the animals inside cough and choke. Verne tried to bat away the suffocating gray cloud but only got more of it in his throat. Pieces of Vexon's chopper sailed through the doorway of the animals' helicopter, clanging into the walls and dashboard; Hammy lay flat on the ground and a twisted piece of metal sailed through the air where his head had been only seconds before.

At last the smoke began to clear, and RJ raised his head again, his vision swimming. He cleared it with a shake of his head, then looked down — and gasped. A large amount of the wreckage from Vexon's chopper was falling below them, right toward the laboratory. The smoldering piece of burning metal shrieked its way through the air, heading right for the squadron of scientists; RJ saw them abandon their guns and scatter in every direction, disappearing into the forest surrounding them. The wreckage, meanwhile, continued downward and landed, with an almighty CRUNCH, into the very heart of the lab.

There was another, much larger explosion; every toxic chemical and flammable substance in the laboratory was consumed by the giant ring of fire that now swept through the building, creating a large mushroom cloud in the sky above. The entirety of the lab was obliterated in an instant — and the fireball shot right toward the animals' chopper. Verne stumbled toward the joystick and frantically tried to steer the helicopter away from the smoke. The chopper swerved to the right, and RJ almost fell off; he tightened his hold on the windshield wiper and felt an intense heat from the fireball, which had missed them by inches.

Finally Verne managed to steer the helicopter toward a clearer, bluer section of sky, and RJ breathed a huge sigh of relief. It was then that he noticed the chopper's windshield: Bullets had wedged in it everywhere. The glass was dotted with them and lined with cracks and shards. Not an inch of it remained clear; it was bent and damaged more than RJ would have thought possible. Acting on an impulse, he reached out and tapped the glass with one finger — and the entire windshield shattered, falling quietly to the floor of the helicopter in tiny broken pieces. RJ slid through the new opening onto the dashboard, careful to avoid the shards of glass.

"You made it," said a relieved Verne, but RJ couldn't reply, having just been clutched into another tight hug by Hammy.

"Wow," Snowy said, almost hacking up a hairball. "I can't — I don't even — That was —"

"Amazing," John said, grinning.

"And close. Really close," Rob said, also grinning. "Is everyone okay back there?"

The animals talked and discussed things with one another, confirming that none of them had been seriously injured. "Not yet, anyway," muttered Jackson.

"RJ — RJ, you're hurt," Hammy said suddenly, having just broken the hug.

"It's nothing, Hammy!" RJ said hastily, covering his injured shoulder again. Blood continued to leak between his fingers, and he clenched his teeth against the pain. "Really, Hammy," he tried to reassure the squirrel, "I'm fine —"

But at that moment their helicopter tilted violently once more, and the animals skidded across the floor; RJ saw Heather heading toward the door and jumped forward just as she fell out of the chopper. He grabbed her hand and pulled her back inside, but in doing so he lost his balance and fell again. He just managed to grab onto the door frame with one hand, the rest of him hanging dangerously from the helicopter.

"RJ!" Verne shouted, leaping forward to pull him up. RJ took one of his hands and the turtle pulled, but someone else was pulling too — someone much, much stronger than Verne.

RJ looked down and saw, with a thrill of horror, Vexon. The doctor was dangling from the landing gear of the chopper, and one of his hands had grabbed RJ's tail. The crazed scientist yanked on RJ, and the raccoon's paw slipped from Verne's grasp. RJ tumbled downward, flailing wildly, and managed to grab onto the landing gear as well, inches above Vexon.

"You — are — _dead_," snarled Vexon. His breathing was ragged, his overcoat was full of holes and smelled of burnt hair, and there were scratches and wounds all over him. Some of the doctor's blood leaked onto RJ's tail, and the raccoon tried to pull from his grasp; but Vexon tightened his hold and yanked RJ downward, so that they were face to face.

"**_Leave him alone!_**" shouted John, his head appearing in the doorway. "You've done enough to us already, you filthy human! **_LET HIM GO!_**"

The helicopter lurched again, and a fierce breeze blew about RJ and Vexon as they struggled to keep hold of the landing gear. RJ's eyes watered against the wind, his fur ruffling; he tried to pull away again but Vexon's hold remained firm.

The doctor had lost all sense of reason. "You are _DEAD!_ Do you hear me? D — E — A — D! And so are your little _friends_ — pity the formula didn't work on that miserable squirrel —"

At this RJ's eyes widened and he saw a flash of images: Vexon, capturing Hammy. Hammy, lying pitiful and helpless in the cage. Hammy, getting injected with the needle — Hammy lying in RJ's arms — Hammy ... not moving.

And an intense hatred welled up from deep within RJ; his eyes narrowed, he bared his teeth, and a fierce growl rumbled from his throat. RJ drew back his fist and, with an almighty WHAM, socked Vexon straight in the face. The surprised scientist fell backward, his hands slipped from the landing gear, and he tumbled downward, disappearing into the smoldering wreckage of the lab.

"RJ! Grab on!"

The raccoon looked up to see Rob lowering his paw, and RJ climbed upward just far enough to reach up and grab it. Rob pulled, but overestimated RJ's weight, and the raccoon flew into the chopper and crashed into Rob, knocking them both over.

Picking himself up and dusting off, RJ grinned at Rob, who was doing the same. "Thanks."

"No problem —" Rob started to say, then suddenly stopped. An odd popping noise had reached their ears, and Rob took a couple of surprised steps backward, as if he had been punched in the chest. Then he suddenly howled and fell, landing on his back and gasping frantically.

RJ gasped and hurried forward. He desperately hoped that popping sound hadn't been what he thought it was — but it had — Rob had been hit with a bullet — no —

No, not a bullet.

A needle.

Horrified, RJ hurried to yank it out, but even as he reached for it, he saw that it was empty — the liquid had sunk into Rob's bloodstream — and Rob's eyes rolled up into his head and he collapsed, suddenly motionless.

"_No_ ..." RJ whispered.

There was silence for a moment, the only sound the gentle crackle of the burning laboratory below. RJ reached into his bag, looking for something, _anything_, to help — but wait a minute. Rob was still breathing; RJ saw his chest rising and falling. Yet he was unconscious. What was going on?

And as the entire crowd of animals looked on with apprehension, Rob began to transform before their eyes. His fur sunk into his flesh; his paws lengthened into spindly fingers and hands; and his tail disappeared. RJ's eyes widened as Rob's transformation finished: where moments ago had been a full-grown wolf, there was now a tall, brown-haired teenager, dressed in a red t-shirt and black shorts.

The boy stirred and opened his eyes, then stood up and stretched. He looked at his arms and hands in wonderment for a moment, then suddenly smiled.

"What do you know — I'm me again!" Rob exclaimed.

The entire crowd of animals broke into a cheer, jumping around the helicopter in celebration. RJ looked up at Rob and smiled too. "I know you won't be able to hear this," he said, "but thanks for all the help."

"No problem," Rob said again.

RJ started. "Wait a minute. You can still understand us?"

"Uh — yeah," said Rob, who looked kind of surprised himself. "Must be an aftereffect of that chemical — wait — who gave me that injection?"

"I dunno," said Hammy as he zipped over to RJ, "but I know how to find out!" With that he jumped into RJ's bag and dug through it for a minute, finally pulling out the pair of binoculars. The squirrel handed them to RJ, and they looked down at the lab, scanning the ground.

And there was Dr. Parker. He was holding a gun in his hand, the nozzle smoking; RJ saw the scientist point to it, then smile and wave. Parker then tossed the gun aside and pulled a cellular phone from his belt. RJ saw him flip it open, then dial three numbers.

Nine ... one ... one...

"Dr. Parker cured you!" Hammy chirped as RJ tossed the binoculars back in his bag. "Wasn't that nice of him?"

"Yeah," RJ agreed, rubbing the little squirrel's head, "it's good to know that there was _one_ decent human in the bunch."

"Jeepers, thank goodness for that," said Penny, looking down at the burning wreckage of the lab. "Everything okay back there, kids? No injuries, right?"

"Nope," said Lou, gesturing to the rest of the animals, "nothing serious."

"Not yet, anyway," said RJ calmly, tossing the binoculars back into his bag.

"Why do you say that, RJ?" asked Verne.

RJ pointed out the window, and the rest of the animals suddenly noticed that the lab seemed to be getting closer.

"Because we're falling."


	14. A Changed Life

CRUNCH.

The animal's helicopter smashed through the foliage and landed hard on the forest floor with an earsplitting bang.

Inside, Verne raised his head. "We're — we're alive?" he said in disbelief.

"Yup," said RJ matter-of-factly, "on account of I sprayed the gas tank with this." He held up a fire extinguisher that he had found in the helicopter. "But it's not enough to douse the entire forest fire," he added, tossing the now empty can aside.

"No," Jackson acknowledged, coming to stand by Verne, "but that's what the humans are planning to do."

He pointed out the window, which now was above their heads, and they saw a series of flashing red and blue lights, accompanied by the now-deafening wail of a siren. RJ's ears twitched as he listened, and he heard water being sprayed through the trees as firemen moved through the forest.

RJ sighed with relief. "It's under control." He turned to the rest of the animals and addressed them. "Now all we have to do is get out of here."

"That should be simple enough," said Verne. "The window's shattered, so all we have to do is climb out of it."

"Here," Rob said, as he hoisted himself through the window and reached down a hand toward the others, "I'll help."

* * *

"I don't know what kind of things you people were doing here, Mr. Vexon, but I'm pretty sure that most of it was illegal, so you'll have to come with me." 

A police officer handcuffed Dr. Vexon's hands behind his back as the doctor fought to escape. "You can't do this," Vexon snarled, "you have no proof!"

"Proof? That's funny," laughed the officer as he spun Vexon around to face him. "You want proof, huh? Well, okay, how about this list of the three hundred or so outlawed chemicals that you were using?" The policeman held up a somewhat charred, but nonetheless intact, clipboard with ten slightly burnt pages of lists. "Most of _them_ are illegal, even in Texas. Very funny indeed, don't you think?"

"_I_ think it's hilarious," said a second officer, coming to join the first. He had a huge pile of lab equipment in his hands. "I've just confiscated more evidence, by the way. This is, what, the fifth time we've been called out here? At least now we know it will be the last." He gestured toward the burning rubble of the laboratory. "Never liked this place anyway."

"And apparently it won't be rebuilt," said the first officer, now escorting Vexon and the other scientists to the police car. "Not with all these nitwits in jail."

"You can't _do_ this!" Vexon exploded again, wrestling with the cuffs around his wrists. "I'm — CEO — of — the — _company!_"

Behind a couple of trees some distance away, a group of forty or so animals plus one teenage boy looked on with amusement.

"Well, at least we know now that he's out of our hair," said Verne, as he watched Vexon struggle against the cops. "We should probably head home now."

"Yeah," RJ agreed, "we probably should."

Reluctantly RJ tore his gaze away from the police car and turned around. But before he had taken two steps, he heard Vexon suddenly shout, "_YOU!_"

RJ whirled around. The crazed scientist had broken free of the policeman and was sprinting over to the crowd of animals, his gaze on RJ murderous. "You're their leader — I _know_ you are! It's _your_ fault all of this happened! I'm not going to have ten years of work overturned in one night by a stupid raccoon! Not without a fight!"

RJ backed away hastily, but as he looked behind him he saw there was nowhere to go. Vexon had forced the entire crowd of animals right in front of the burning forest. The firemen had not managed to douse the flames yet, and RJ felt his fur ruffle from the heat. RJ looked back at Vexon — the doctor was still coming — but before he could reach them, a teenage boy stepped in front of him.

"_Leave … them … alone,_" Rob said murderously, and Vexon halted, stunned.

"27-VD?" he said in disbelief. "You're — you're back to normal?"

"My _name_," the boy growled, as he drew back his fist, "is _Rob_."

And he punched Vexon in the stomach. The doctor doubled over, wheezing, trying to gain his breath back. Rob spun round and sprinted towards the forest. "Come on!"

There was no other option. Vexon was gaining his breath back, his face red from anger, and began running again, before the police could reach him. The animals followed Rob into the forest, dodging burning logs and trees as they ran. Fire surrounded them in every direction as the trees burned and smoke obscured their view. RJ heard an earsplitting crack overhead and ducked just in time to avoid a burning branch, which fell two inches in front of him. The raccoon dodged it and continued running.

"You can't hide from me!" Vexon shouted from behind them, struggling to keep up. The doctor wrestled furiously with the cuffs around his wrists, trying to free himself, but all he achieved was a few cuts on his arms. He ran on, regardless, after the Hedgies.

"This way!" said Hammy, grabbing RJ's hand and pulling him through a tight space in between two burning trees. RJ felt his cut shoulder brush against the flames and yelled in agony again as pain flared up his arm. He stopped for a moment, clenching his teeth as he covered the wound, then continued running.

Behind them, Vexon finally realized that he wouldn't be able to catch up. With a roar of frustration, the scientist stopped and looked round the clearing. Suddenly a wicked smile spread across his face. There was a burning log in front of him, and Vexon slipped his shoe under it. The doctor gathered his strength and, with a grunt, kicked the log, hurling it through the air — right toward the squadron of animals.

"LOOK OUT!"

RJ whirled around again; the log was inches above their heads when suddenly a fierce spray of water hit it, hurling it in the other direction. The water doused the log immediately, and it fell to the ground crumbled and charred. The animals looked — and saw Dr. Parker standing behind them with a fire hose, smiling at them.

"_Parker!_" snarled Vexon, advancing on the other doctor. "You — you — how _could_ you?"

As a response, Parker pulled the cell phone from his belt and gestured toward it, grinning. "Oh, it was very easy," he explained. "All I had to do was flip this thing open and dial three numbers. _That's_ how I did it. And who do you think cured Rob?"

"I'll get you for this!" screamed Vexon, as he wrestled madly with the handcuffs. "You will pay for betraying us!"

"Oh really?" said Parker mildly, raising an eyebrow.

And with that, he turned the hose on again and blasted it towards Vexon. The jet of water hit the doctor in the face and pushed him backward. Vexon screamed in frustration, trying to resist the powerful spray, but to no avail — Parker turned the hose up a few more notches and Vexon was pushed back even farther. Finally the doctor was shoved up against a charred tree, blubbering and snarling, and Parker turned the water off.

"Given up yet?" Rob called, grinning.

Vexon glared at them as he stood up again. "I'll _never_ give up," he growled, walking forward. "They may take me to jail and lock me up, but I will escape. And I will hunt all of you down. And I _will_ kill you."

And he looked down at the animals and smiled evilly, gesturing toward RJ. "And I think I'll start with _this_ little guy…"

"_ENOUGH!_" Verne exploded, to the surprise of all the animals around him. "How many times must we go through this? _LEAVE US ALONE!_"

"Oh," RJ said calmly, reaching into his bag for the last time, "he will."

And RJ drew out his boomerang again and hurled it toward Vexon. The doctor ducked, and it sailed over his head. "You think I'd fall for that a second time?" he sneered. "Fat chance."

"Wasn't aiming at you," RJ smiled, though he knew Vexon wouldn't understand him.

Vexon must have got the general gist, however, because he stopped, confused. There was a cracking sound from overhead — and, too late, Vexon looked up in horror to see that the boomerang had broken off a large, burning branch, which was now hurling through the air toward the doctor. The boomerang came back to RJ and he caught it, turning away quickly. He spotted some of the lab wreckage through the trees and called to the animals, "This way! Come on!"

All of them sprinted through the burning trees toward the back of the lab. There was a large crashing sound behind them, and they heard Vexon howling with pain and rage. They also heard the crackle of a policeman's walkie-talkie: "Yeah, we're gonna need a first-aid kit. It's not too serious, just enough to keep this guy off his feet for awhile."

Finally the crowd of animals cleared the forest and found themselves on the lab parking lot, in front of the wreckage. Lying some distance away was the road to the lab, framed by the rising sun. RJ slowed to a walk, panting and rubbing his injured arm.

"Well, that'll certainly keep Vexon out of action," Jackson said happily.

"Yeah, well, with the record he's got he'll probably end up with a lifetime in jail," Rob said.

"A maximum-security one," Parker chimed in.

"Hey —" Rob stopped and looked at Parker. "...Thanks for the help."

"You're welcome," Parker replied, then sighed. "I'm just sorry it took me so long to realize something had to be done." He perked up suddenly and shook Rob's hand. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have an appointment with the SPCA."

And he sprinted down the road, vanishing into the distance.

The animals looked after him in wonderment. "Wow," said Hammy.

"So," Stella said, coming to stand by RJ, "how are we going to get home?"

"That little car certainly isn't big enough to fit all of us," added Lou. "There's about thirty too many for the thing."

"Look!" said Bucky, pointing.

They looked. Still standing in the parking lot was the van that had captured RJ and Hammy. The front door was open and the keys were dangling from the ignition. The back doors were also open — and there was plenty of room inside.

Rob grinned, and there was a familiar, wolfish tint to his smile. "I'll drive."

* * *

"Jeepers, this cut is deep," said Penny as she dabbed at RJ's shoulder with some ointment. RJ winced. Penny set the ointment aside and picked up a small washcloth, tying it around the wound. "There you go, RJ. That should hold." 

"Thanks, Penny." RJ slid off his little car seat chair and stood up, stretching. His shoulder felt much better. "I'm going to check on the others."

"They're certainly enjoying themselves," Penny smiled as she put the ointment away.

RJ walked through the forest, breathing deeply. It wasn't just his shoulder — all of him felt much better. He'd gotten a nice, long sleep, had successfully led a raid on the supply of food for the neighborhood party, and was now enjoying the middle of a glorious summer's day. The sun was shining in a clear blue sky, and each of the Hedgies was having a good time.

All 38 of them.

"En garde!" Bucky said, waving a wooden branch around. "Who's ready to sword fight?"

"I am!" said George the hedgehog, leaping forward and also brandishing a stick.

"Now remember, the winner gets to wear the leaf hat," said Lou, who was acting as the referee. "Okay ... go!"

"Have at thee!" said Quillo, and he began to spar with the others.

RJ smiled and walked on. Ahead of him, Verne was discussing something with Jackson and Willow. Verne's shell was now free of any marks; RJ had seen to that with his electric toothbrush.

"...now remember," RJ heard Verne say, "the agreement was that the thirteen of us would take this end of the forest, and the ... what was it? ... twenty-five of you would take that end."

"Quite right, quite right," agreed Jackson pompously. "Although to be honest I don't see why we have to be split up like that."

"All of us wander around so much that it doesn't really matter who belongs where," Willow chimed in.

"I know," Verne admitted, "but truth be told it makes me feel better when I have something to organize."

RJ laughed and continued walking. Soon he came upon Heather, who was typing on the laptop furiously, her fingers a blur. "Oh, hey, RJ," she said when she saw him. "I was just getting more info on some animal-rights groups."

"She's become quite the little activist, our daughter," said Lilly happily from beside Heather. "I'm so proud of her!" Heather rolled her eyes.

"Indeed," Ozzie agreed. "She's aiming to help critters like the ones we rescued."

"Yeah," said Heather. "I mean, just Google 'animal rights' and you get, like, two million hits. If not more."

"That's great, Heather," said RJ encouragingly. "You're helping a lot of animals."

"Just want to raise awareness, you know?" said Heather.

RJ smiled and began strolling again. There was a rustling sound from beside him, and he turned to see Rob emerging from the hedge, brushing leaves out of his hair. He looked up and smiled. "Hey, RJ."

"Hey," RJ grinned back. "What're you doing here?"

"I told my parents I was going to spend the day with some friends," said Rob, walking with RJ. "And that's the truth, isn't it?"

"Absolutely," RJ agreed as they passed a pond where a few of the Hedgies were swimming. Frank the frog sat on a lily pad, humming contentedly, while above him a bird and an owl tossed a ball back and forth through the air. Rob went to join them, and a few dragonflies buzzed around RJ until he batted at the air and they left. And with that, RJ walked on some more.

"No," he heard Katrina say, "this is a _camera_. A digital camera. See, you hold the end like this, right? And then you — AGH, no, that's the flash button! My eyes!"

Katrina was attempting to introduce her sister Marissa to the marvels of the technological world. Marissa didn't seem to be picking up on it so successfully — for one thing, she was holding the camera the wrong way. When the pressed the "capture" button, all she got was her own face instead of her sister's. Katrina, meanwhile, had her hands over her eyes as she attempted to recover from the blinding flash.

"Never mind," Katrina said, in a voice of forced calm as she lowered her hands, "let's try it again."

"You know, you could keep recipes on this," said Marissa, as she eyed the camera intently.

RJ heard Katrina sigh exasperatedly as he moved on. In a grove to his left he saw Stella and Tiger. "...so brave, my love," Tiger was saying. "You vere so brave."

"Well, you were, too," Stella purred, gazing into Tiger's eyes lovingly. And RJ did not see or hear any more because he knew this wasn't the kind of moment he should be listening to, and he turned away, covering his ears.

His wanderings eventually took him to another clearing, where he saw, sitting with their backs to him, John and Snowy. RJ knew that he shouldn't be listening to this either, but he couldn't help but hear John say, "...it's been so long ... but I still miss her so much. How could you possibly know what it's like to feel this way?"

"You'd be surprised," Snowy replied, somewhat hesitantly. "I — I'm pretty sure I understand what you're going through."

"Why do you say that?" asked John suspiciously, looking at her.

"Because —" Snowy hesitated again, but knew it was the right time to tell. "Susie — she — she was also my sister." She lowered her head, her eyes brimming. "I thought she ran away, but — now I know the truth."

John looked at her, and a mix of emotions ran across his face — surprise, understanding, sympathy, and — could it be? — love?

Slowly he cupped a paw under Snowy's chin and raised her head. "Snowstar," he began, "can this really work?"

"What do you mean?" asked Snowy steadily.

"Well," John said, and now it was his turn to hesitate, "part of me's always believed that it would be — an insult to Susie's memory to — to love another person. And — you know — you _are_ her sister..."

"If you knew Susie like I did," said Snowstar, as she smiled reluctantly, "I bet you'd agree that she'd be the happiest to know that there was a little more love around."

Slowly John smiled too. "I can't argue with that." Gently he placed a paw around Snowy's shoulders, and the two of them gazed at each other ... happy at last.

RJ smiled and turned away quietly from his hiding place. As he moved away he could hear the sound of deep purring. He grinned, and continued to meander about, pausing occasionally to sniff a flower or enjoy the breeze.

Soon he found himself back at the log. He seemed to be the only one here: all of the other Hedgies were off doing something else, and the spot was quiet. Slowly he sat down in front of the mound of food, plucked the Spuddies can from the pile, and began to munch on a couple of chips. As he munched, he thought. He thought about all that all of them had gone through during the past day; he thought about how far Verne and the others had gone to rescue them; and he thought about all the new members of their family.

RJ tossed the now-empty Spuddies can aside and smacked his lips. He stretched his hands over his head and yawned contentedly. It was very peaceful here, he realized.

And peaceful was unusual...

"HI!"

RJ yelped as a furry red head popped out of the pile of food and grinned at him. "Hammy!" RJ exclaimed.

"Just hiding away my lovely cookies," said the squirrel cheerfully, hugging the plastic bag. It looked none the worse for the journey it had been through, but the cookies inside were still intact — and, presumably, still delicious. "If I bury them way under here —" Hammy said, as he burrowed far into the pile, so that all RJ could see was his tail, "— then I won't be tempted to eat them. Not for a while, at least..."

"Good strategy, little buddy," RJ said, grinning. "I don't want to have to go on a run like that again."

"Well, at least we all made it out okay," said Hammy, coming back out of the pile and hugging RJ. "I'm glad."

"I am too, Hammy," said RJ, rubbing the little squirrel's head.

They stood like that for a moment until Hammy broke the hug. "I did save one of them," he said brightly, holding up a large cookie. "Wanna split it?"

"Sure," RJ smiled.

Hammy broke the cookie in half and handed one part to RJ. "It's chocolate chip! My favorite."

"Mine, too, Hammy," RJ said gratefully. He bit into it and chewed, savoring the flavor. "Wow. Rob was right — his mom really does make the best cookies."

"Yup," agreed Hammy through a mouthful of food. He had crammed the entire half of the cookie into his mouth, and his cheeks swelled as he munched on it. He chewed for awhile, then swallowed hard, and smacked his lips with satisfaction. "De-e-e-e-e-licious."

"This is nice, Hammy," said RJ, as he sat back down on the cool grass in front of the log, "really nice."

"I know," sighed Hammy happily, sitting next to RJ. He rested against the raccoon, and together the two of them watched a few clouds drift lazily through the sky. "We really are lucky to have a family like this."

"I know we are, Hamsquad," said RJ quietly, wrapping a paw around Hammy's shoulders.

"I know we are."

* * *

**THE END**

* * *

_Jeffaplus: Thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed this story, for your positive encouragement and helpful critiques. I love you all! Sorry this last chapter took so darn long to write. And oh yeah, since I forgot to put the disclaimer at the beginning of the story, I'll do it here: Over the Hedge and the characters within it are property of DreamWorks, Mr. Fry and Mr. Lewis. No infringement is intended — please don't sue me._

_What do you all think ... should there be a sequel?_


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